The United States launched a new round of ‘self-defense’ strikes on Iran on Wednesday evening amid stalled negotiations with Tehran.
In a post on social media, US Central Command announced that starting at 5.15pm ET ‘forces began launching additional self-defense strikes against multiple targets in Iran.’
It added that the strikes come at the ‘Commander in Chief’s direction’ and were ‘in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.’
Iranian media has since reported that explosions were heard around Minab and Sirik in the southern part of the country, near the Strait of Hormuz, and reported that air defense systems in Asaluyeh were activated – though no attacks have occurred thus far in the key energy hub that houses refineries and petrochemical complexes, CNN reports.
The renewed strikes come just hours after Trump met with his advisors in the Situation Room to discuss options for a massive bombing raid.
The president has grown frustrated with the stalled efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Iran, and is reportedly hoping that the new bombing efforts will push the Iranians into making a deal.
He was considering an operation ‘that is big in scale but short in duration,’ sources told Axios.
Following the meeting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters: ‘CENTCOM will be busy tonight because we are going to hit Iran hard … they are going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the US. It is not to restart the war but to set the terms for a deal.’
Trump also warned: ‘We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today.’
The strikes on Wednesday came at President Donald Trump’s direction
The attack on Iran was described as ‘self-defense strikes’ after Iran struck US assets
But Tehran has threatened to broaden the conflict to other countries if the US were to strike.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, promised retaliation on X, writing: ‘This time, the war won’t be limited to the region.’
Meanwhile, Qatari mediators were holding talks with Iranian officials in another effort to bring about a deal.
However, negotiations seemed to fall apart when Iranian forces downed a US helicopter on Monday with two crew members on board, who were later rescued.
The US responded by striking command and control, defense and surveillance stations late Tuesday, while Iran said it attacked American bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday.
Trump has also threatened to target Iranian bridges and power plants, a step he had originally threatened just before the ceasefire but never followed through on.
‘I am not going to say that to you. But I can do that,’ Trump said when asked by an AFP journalist about a Fox News report that he was considering such plans.
An Iranian missile was launched as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it had carried out attacks on a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets across the Gulf
But Trump said that despite the fighting he was hoping for ‘peace for the world’ for his 80th birthday on Sunday, when he is hosting a cage fight on the White House lawn.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
