U.S. armed forces completed a new wave of strikes against Iran this Wednesday, CENTCOM confirmed, saying the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump.
The military command operating in the Middle East said U.S. forces carried out the offensive against “Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance installations” with the aim of further degrading the regime’s ability to “threaten innocent mariners operating commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
They added: “CENTCOM used precision munitions to strike targets at multiple locations, including Bandar Abbas.” In a statement posted earlier on the social platform X, CENTCOM reported that “at 3:00 p.m. ET, U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes against Iran” that same Wednesday.
The new offensive came after Washington confirmed it had reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and coasts and announced the diversion of two commercial vessels that, according to the Pentagon, tried to evade the restrictions imposed by the United States.
Since the resumption of military operations, the conflict has spread across several fronts in the region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck U.S. Fifth Fleet positions in Bahrain, while Bahraini authorities reported intercepting projectiles aimed at civilian targets. Jordan also confirmed its air defenses shot down three missiles launched by Iran toward its territory.
Tensions also reached northern Iraq, where explosions were reported overnight near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region. So far, authorities have not reported casualties or provided details on the scope of those incidents.
At the same time, President Donald Trump intensified his rhetoric toward Tehran and warned the military campaign could expand in the coming days if the Iranian regime does not agree to resume negotiations. “Next week the situation will be very bad for them,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Despite the escalation in fighting, diplomatic channels have not been completely closed. However, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament and the regime’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the memorandum signed with Washington lost validity after the U.S. decision to reimpose the naval blockade.
“A memorandum of understanding only makes sense when its clauses are valid and are honored. If Iran does not receive any benefit from the agreement, we have no reason to respect it,” he said.
The center of the confrontation remains the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic passage through which a significant portion of the world’s oil and gas trade is transported. Iran again restricted transit through the route after accusing the United States of failing to honor the agreed commitments, while Washington responded with new military operations and the reinstatement of maritime restrictions on Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes aim to reduce the regime’s military capacity to threaten commercial shipping. In recent hours, Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Bandar Imam Khomeini and later in Bushehr, the city that hosts the country’s only civilian nuclear power plant.
The conflict has also begun to affect civilians and maritime transport in the region. A Norwegian tanker suffered an explosion off the coast of Oman caused by a device of undetermined origin, while Kuwait reported that one of its naval vessels was hit during an Iranian attack with missiles and drones, an incident that left four crew members injured.
Trump also announced he had abandoned plans to impose a 20% levy on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a measure proposed days earlier. Instead, he said he would pursue trade and investment agreements with Washington’s Gulf allies.
According to the Iranian regime, the U.S. bombings resumed last week have killed at least 30 civilians, while the country’s Armed Forces reported that another seven military personnel died during the strikes carried out this Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that his country would respond “harshly” if Iran decides to extend its attacks to Israeli territory.