American forces resumed strikes against Iran on Tuesday, US Central Command said in a statement.
It accused the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of “recent attempted attacks” against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and “American service members deployed to the region”.
Centcom said US forces began striking IRGC targets at 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT). Iran state media reported the country’s deputy governor for security as saying four projectiles had hit the counties of Chabahar and Konarak.
The IRGC said the US would regret the strikes, as US President Donald Trump warned that Iran would be hit again at “a much harder and higher level” if it retaliated.
The attack follows the first known US strikes on Iran since late July earlier this week, when forces attacked two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several explosions were also heard on Qeshm Island on Tuesday, as well as Konarak and Bandar Abbas.
Donald Trump confirmed the “large and powerful” strikes, which he said were in response to Iran shooting eight missiles at a US military base in Jordan, adding the country had “failed” at adding sea mines to the Strait.
Regarding his threat of a further attack in the case of Iranian retaliation, he added: “It will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said that severe punishment awaited the US and the country would regret the new attacks.
