The United States has launched a fresh round of strikes against multiple targets overnight in Iran, the US military said, hours after President Donald Trump vowed new attacks if no peace dealis secured.
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” the military’s Central Command said in a post on X, adding the strikes began after midnight in Tehran.
Iran’s top joint military command responded to the US strikes, warning that it would fire on any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed for months.
Iranian media reported that two ships were fired upon.
Iran’s top joint military command also said its armed forces will give a “crushing and decisive” reponse to any “agression” by the US in the region.
The US attacks are the latest development in an escalating exchange of strikes that threaten to reignite a full-scale war, which was paused in early April when the two sides agreed to a fragile ceasefire.
Iranian news agencies reported explosions in several cities in southern Iran, including Sirik, Kangan, Bandar Abbas and Minab.
“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Mr Trump told reporters yesterday at the White House.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later told reporters during a visit to Central Command in Florida that the strikes would “advance our military interests and also enhance our diplomatic position”.
“We will strike them hard tonight and hopefully Iran makes a good decision,” he said.
“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs,” he added.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said a deal is close
The United States and Iran have traded fire several times since the tentative ceasefire took hold, even as negotiators have unsuccessfully sought an end to the three-month-old war.
President Trump has repeatedly said a deal is close, though there has been no sign of a breakthrough, while also threatening to resume bombing.
The US military targeted air defences and radar sites around the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday after a US attack helicopter was downed near the strategic waterway on Monday.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.
A US official said there was no significant damage.
Iran accused the US of striking reservoirs that supplied drinking water to 10 villages and violating international law.
“This is not collateral damage – it is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Iran has blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz
Mr Trump, who has threatened before to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, did not say whether the coming strikes would target power plants and bridges.
Head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee Ebrahim Azizi warned in response that the “war won’t be limited to the region”.
Despite the language from both sides, there were signs of continuing diplomatic efforts.
A delegation from Qatar, which has been mediating between the United States and Iran, landed in Tehran yesterday to hold talks on the latest developments, Iranian media reported.
The war has killed thousands and disrupted roughly one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, sending prices sharply higher.
Iran has blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, while the US has maintained its own blockade on Iranian ports.
Oil prices rose nearly $3 following Mr Trump’s threat of escalation, to $94 (€81) per barrel.
Mr Trump said vessels carrying 100 million barrels of oil have defied Iran to travel through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a secret military mission.
He said oil prices would be much higher without the effort.
Mr Hegseth said ships have been transiting the waterway “in the middle of the night, protected by the United States in a way that Iran can’t stop, they can’t see it”.
Israeli airstrikes kill 13 in south Lebanon
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people yesterday
Separately, the US military said it disabled an oil tanker transporting Iranian crude in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday for a second consecutive day.
Fighting in a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people yesterday, Lebanese security sources said, while Hezbollah claimed fresh attacks against Israeli forces.
Tehran’s demands include an end to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump said Iran must end its restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
He also said any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies any such ambition.
The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a US-backed resolution yesterday telling Iran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them.
Iran branded the resolution as “political”.
