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.

Later Tuesday, Trump told Fox News that the US went after radar systems that Tehran had tried to rebuild. “They tried to rebuild their radar because they can’t see anything,” he said. “We waited until it was almost built and then we hit it,” he added, touting US military capabilities. “The [USS] George Washington is loaded to the gills,” he said.

Trump also said the US gave Gulf allies a heads-up before its latest strikes and criticized Iran’s leadership. “I think an agreement with them isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” the president said, later adding, “They don’t stop: They’re crazy and they’re stupid,” he said.

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.

Iran’s state-run television service Press TV said the strikes hit the small regional Jiroft Airport in southeastern Iran and a fishmeal factory on Qeshm Island in the strait.

Separately, an explosion was heard in Iran’s southern county of Asaluyeh, a key gas and petrochemical hub on the Gulf coast, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.

The governor of Asaluyeh said an explosion had been heard in the county but provided no immediate details on the cause of the blast or whether there were any casualties or damage.

Asaluyeh is home to major energy infrastructure linked to the South Pars gas field, one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves. The report did not specify the location of the explosion within the county.

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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