The US resumed attacks on Iran hours after President Donald Trump threatened to hit the country “hard” in retaliation for an attack on a US base in Jordan.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the conclusion of “heavy waves of strikes” in a post on X at midnight. It described the attack as powerful, and a “response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on US forces in the Middle East.”
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It stated that the strikes targeted Iranian assets such as “military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities.”
Al Jazeera reports that explosions were heard in several cities across Southern Iran, including Bushehr province, where Iran’s nuclear power plant is located, Qeshm Island, and the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.
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Two people are also reported to have been injured by the strikes.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported Mr Trump’s threat, bringing to an end the five days of relative calm between the two countries. He had abruptly suspended his consecutive 13-day bombing campaign last Friday. Tehran, in response, also paused its retaliatory strikes, which targeted US interests in the Gulf.
“We’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them. They know it’s coming,” Mr Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
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This paper reported that Iran launched an attack on Tuesday while Mr Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pushing for war on Iran, at the White House.
Iranian strikes also came as a response to US/ Saudi Arabia joint strikes on Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a move that heightened tension in the new war front.
CENTCOM regarded the attack as a reprisal for Iraq militias’ attacks on American troops and Saudi energy infrastructure last week. The attack killed 20 members of the PMF, a state-recognised Iraqi armed group with ties to Iran.
CENTCOM reported intercepting multiple ballistic missiles in the “attempted surprise attack.” Five missile interceptions were reported over Jordan.
The IRGC also confirmed the attack, stating that its air force targeted a US airbase and Central Command centre in Jordan, “with several ballistic missiles.”
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the US will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage.
He described the Iranian regime as “desperate for cash” as its economy spirals and inflation reaches triple digits.
His comment on X came after his office announced new sanctions on the country.
The Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on two firms which it said are integral to the IRGC-backed scheme that forces commercial vessels to purchase mandatory maritime insurance to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
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