US military carries out new strikes on Iranian targets
By Zachary Cohen, Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
(CNN) — The US military carried out additional strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran on Tuesday, in response to recent attempted attacks against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American troops deployed to the region, according to US Central Command.
“Today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran,” CENTCOM wrote in a post on X.
“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” the post adds.
The new round of strikes come after the US and Iran traded attacks overnight into Monday — marking the first exchange of fire between the two countries in over a month.
At the time, Iran said it fired missiles toward US military targets in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for a US strike on Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island. The US said Iran was trying to launch sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz –– the shipping route that’s become the center of regional tensions and diplomatic efforts.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iran would face more severe US military action if it retaliates against what he called a “very justified attack,” while noting that the US is still holding out on “the biggest attack of them all.”
“The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines (They have been completely removed or detonated!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Iran has vowed to retaliate to the strikes.
Iran’s Armed Forces Central Headquarters said Iran would “deliver crushing and devastating blows” against the “American enemy,” state broadcaster IRIB reported.
“The more the US military persists in its aggression in the region, the greater and heavier the losses it will have to endure,” it said.
Four projectiles hit the neighboring port cities of Chabahar and Konarak in southeastern Iran, Iranian authorities said Tuesday.
Multiple explosions were also heard east of Bandar Abbas and around Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB.
Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island sit on the northern side of the strait, one of the world’s most important energy-shipping chokepoints, while Chabahar and Konarak are twin strategic port cities on the Gulf of Oman that host key commercial, maritime and military infrastructure.
Oil futures climbed above $94 a barrel on Tuesday after US Central Command announced the new strikes.
Trump had said on Monday that US actions in Iran will be “very limited” following the flare up in tensions this weekend.
“It’s very limited,” Trump said in the Oval Office, going on to list what he said were significant US military accomplishments over the course of the six-month war.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their surveillance equipment is almost entirely gone,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t smack ‘em. We’ll see what happens.”
Trump insisted the Strait of Hormuz was in “extremely good shape” with many ships transiting, though tracking data shows traffic remains significantly lower than before the war began.
Asked who was in charge in Tehran, Trump said it remained an open question.
“In my opinion, they don’t know who the leader is,” he said. “You have the radicals, but they’ve been wiped out from the standpoint of the military because the military is just a fraction of what it was.”
“I don’t really think they know who their leader is,” he said.
The earlier exchange of strikes sent global oil prices almost 3% higher and drove US stock indexes lower Monday. The attacks occurred days after Trump declared the strait free from mines and marks a shift from Washington’s recent focus on maximizing economic pressure on Iran rather than using military might.
CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Matt Egan, Aida Karimi and Hira Humayun contributed reporting.
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