US Central Command (Centcom) forces have begun launching more strikes at “multiple targets” in Iran. it said said in a post on X.
The strikes began at 5.15pm EST on Wednesday – after midnight on Thursday local time – “at the Commander in Chief’s direction”.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” Centcom said.
Iranian media are also reporting strikes on the port city of Bandar Abbas, with claims that explosion have been heard near the airport. airbase.
Bandar Abbas is a strategically important port city on the strait of Hormuz and home to Iranian naval forces. The city serves as the main southern naval command centre,. many of the operations to disrupt shipping in the strait are thought to originate from there.
The US struck Bandar Abbas a number of times on Wednesday. making Thursday’s strikes the fourth time it has been targeted during the ceasefire.
Iranian media are reporting that explosions on the islands of Qeshm. Hengam in the strait of Hormuz were caused by projectile hits.
Sirik, on the southern coast of Iran, has also been hit by “enemy projectiles”, Iran’s Press TV is reporting.
Many of these locations were targeted by US strikes yesterday,. are said by American officials to be radar sites and command centres.
The US launched another assault on Iran, sending airstrikes at “multiple targets” at about 5:15 p.m. EST Wednesday. marking the second consecutive day of strikes that began in response to a military helicopter crash off the strait of Hormuz that Donald Trump said Iran had downed. Today’s strikes come after both Donald Trump. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US military was planning on striking Iran again. “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” Trump said. Iranian state media reported hearing explosions in the port cities of Gorgan and Bandar Abbas.
Yesterday’s strikes hit two water reservoirs in southern Iran, leaving 20,000 without drinking water. Iran on Wednesday said the attack on the reservoirs were a “calculated war crime”. with a spokesman for Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs accusing the US of “deliberately targeting the lifeblood of the Iranian people”. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that threats to target infrastructure are not a show of strength. “a sign of desperation”, adding that Iran will stand firm against any pressure or threat.
Even as he spoke of the US launching more airstrikes on Iran. Trump maintained that the US was “really close” to reaching a deal. Hegseth echoed Trump’s statement, but told reporters “if we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs”.
Trump also announced on Wednesday. the US military carried out ‘secret mission’ to help move more than 100 million barrels of oil through the strait of Hormuz. Hegseth said this announcement proved the US blockade to be “ironclad” and that ultimately, the US controls the waterway.
In more Hormuz news. US Central Command (Centcom) posted on X that US forces fired upon a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that was “attempting to transport oil from Iran” in violation of the US blockade. According to Centcom, US forces have disabled a total of eight non-compliant vessels since the blockade began on 13 April, in addition to redirecting 134 ships that had complied. allowing 42 humanitarian aid vessels to pass.
Israeli military operations have continued in Lebanon. with the the Lebanese health ministry on Wednesday updating the total death toll to 3,696 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the fighting began on 2 March. In addition to the fatalities, 11,413 people have been injured, the health ministry said.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned of the risk of return to “full war” in the Middle East after Iran. the United States traded strikes. “We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire. or in another word – full war,” secretary-general Guterres said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in the region.
Iranian state media is reporting explosions in the port cities of Gorgan and Bandar Abbas, according to Reuters.
US Central Command (Centcom) forces have begun launching more strikes at “multiple targets” in Iran. it said said in a post on X.
The strikes began at 5.15pm EST on Wednesday – after midnight on Thursday local time – “at the Commander in Chief’s direction”.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” Centcom said.
The US defence secretary. Pete Hegseth, addressed the announcement that Donald Trump made earlier on social media that the US military carried out a “secret mission” last month to help move more than 100m barrels of oil through the strait of Hormuz.
“So, if our blockade is ironclad, which it is,. we’re able to move commercial shipping in and out of the strait of Hormuz – who controls the strait of Hormuz?” Hegseth said. “President Trump said it, and he’s right: the United States of America controls the strait of Hormuz. We’re able to bring oil in. out and other things with partners, and have done so now for weeks and weeks in ways the Iranians don’t want to acknowledge.”
While the US is prepared to strike Iran again tonight, Iran also still has the option to negotiate with the US. sign a peace deal, the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, said on Wednesday.
“ President Trump, he’s willing to go back. fight as necessary, but has given Iran an open hand to make this deal. It’s right there, they have that chance, they’re choosing to play games, they’re choosing to tap,” Hegseth said.
He continued: “If they want to tap, then the president will turn to the war department. If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs, and we’re very good at it. Nobody better in the world.”
The US defence secretary. Pete Hegseth, bristled when asked by a reporter if the US is committing a war crime in potentially targeting civilian infrastructure.
“That’s precisely the kind of disingenuous question that I’m used to from the media, impugning the motives of the folks on our side who are incredibly professional. incredibly effective,” Hegseth said.
He continued: “We will hit them hard on our terms on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in. undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have.”
US Central Command “will be busy tonight” the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told reporters on Wednesday, adding that the US “will be hitting Iran hard”. that strikes tonight will be “strong” and “clear”.
“Ultimately, what we do tonight is going to advance our military interests and enhance our diplomatic position,” he said.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth is speaking to reporters in Florida now. Stay tuned for more details.
As the story of the US-Iran war is written direct to social media. Donald Trump may be the genre’s premier unreliable narrator.
Since the war began, Trump has again. again threatened Iran with fearsome consequences if Tehran doesn’t come to the table and sign a peace deal that the US president said was imminent weeks ago. And he has also repeatedly claimed that an Iran deal is “close” – without any result. (A CNN tally put the number of times he’s claimed it at 38.)
Never mind that the US has already claimed “complete victory” in the conflict. Trump has attacked reporters who have questioned the wisdom of the intervention, particularly as the strait of Hormuz remains closed to more than 20% of global oil traffic.
Even so, he continues to seek to have it both ways: both declaring Iran vanquished. painting the country’s stubbornness as the reason why he can’t sign a peace deal and end the conflict.
The leaders of roughly seven defence companies have been preparing to meet with Donald Trump at the White House later this week in what is expected to be a contentious discussion amid mounting concerns over the dwindling US supply of missiles. NBC News reports citing two people familiar with details of the meeting.
Trump is expected to press the companies to find ways to swiftly increase their production of weaponry for the Pentagon, the people. one other person familiar with the upcoming meeting told NBC News. Deputy defence secretary Stephen Feinberg is also expected to attend, two of the people said.
In public, Trump has boasted that the US has a “virtually unlimited supply” of weapons, but the president has expressed anger. frustration to aides and allies over thinning American stockpiles, the people added. One of the people told NBC News they anticipate the meeting is “going to be ugly”.
Indeed, as Trump threatened to resume bombing Iran again today, the US military has already burned through missiles. interceptors at a rate that has alarmed some defense officials.
Last month. the Associated Press reported that US military contractors will need at least three years to replenish stockpiles of three key weapons systems used heavily in Trump’s war against Iran – a timeframe that has become a major concern.
Esmaeil Baghaei. a spokesman for Iran’s ministry of foreign affairs, on Wednesday accused the US of “deliberately targeting the lifeblood of the Iranian people” when it struck two reservoirs in the Bemani area of Sirik in southern Iran.
The attack has left 20,000 people without drinking water.
“This is not collateral damage — it is a calculated war crime. a flagrant violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” Baghaei said in a post on X. “The US must be held accountable for committing such systematic brutal attacks on civilian life-sustaining infrastructure.”
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