Baghdad: The US military has announced a new wave of strikes against Iran, escalating tensions in the region. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the attack hours after President Donald Trump threatened a major strike.
According to National Iraqi News Agency, CENTCOM released a statement on its X platform early Thursday morning, stating, "We have begun launching strikes against Iran in response to Iranian attack attempts on Tuesday targeting US forces in the Middle East." The statement highlighted that, approximately two hours into the operation, a "dense wave" of strikes had successfully hit dozens of targets associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The objective of these strikes, which targeted military command centers, missile facilities, and drone sites, was to "degrade the threats posed by Iran and its proxies to US forces, commercial shipping, and the Gulf states." CENTCOM emphasized that more than 50,000 US troops are currently deployed in the Middle East and are "at the highest level of alert and readiness."
The strikes are the first military action since President Trump suspended 13 nights of daily bombing raids on Iran last Friday to allow for negotiations. A US official informed Fox News that the airstrikes targeted a "very broad" range of targets, while another official told The Wall Street Journal that the operation would be more extensive than the recent tit-for-tat actions, covering a wider geographic area.
The Wall Street Journal reported that US Central Command chief Brad Cooper had prepared a plan for a "punitive air campaign" against Iran, potentially lasting around two weeks. Iranian state media reported attacks across several provinces, including Khuzestan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Fars in southern Iran. In Hormozgan province, the head of the crisis management department reported two injured children pulled from rubble on Qeshm Island, with a search ongoing for three other family members.
Al Jazeera correspondent in Tehran, Rania Qasemi, reported that the attacks in Hormozgan focused on the Iranian islands of Kish, Abu Musa, and Qeshm, with one explosion on Qeshm targeting a residential area, destroying a house. The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported an attack near Kazerun city in Fars province, while Iranian television reported multiple explosions in Abadan city, Khuzestan province, and quoted the deputy governor as saying American projectiles targeted areas in the city.
The deputy governor of Khuzestan stated that US missile strikes also targeted areas around the southwestern cities of Ahvaz, Abadan, Shadegan, and Arvandkenar. The attacks caused power outages, with the Qeshm electricity company director confirming power restoration after a missile strike caused a temporary outage. In Ahvaz, power cuts were reported due to the strikes, according to Tasnim News Agency.
The military action followed President Trump's statement promising a powerful blow to Iran in retaliation for Tehran's targeting of what it claimed were US military sites in Jordan. Trump remarked at the White House, "So now it's our turn," indicating the possibility of reaching an agreement at some point, but asserting that the US would "hit them very hard."
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced it had launched several ballistic missiles towards what it described as a US airbase and military center in Jordan. The US military reported intercepting a number of the ballistic missiles.