The United States has carried out a second wave of military strikes against Iran within 24 hours. US President Donald Trump declared the action to be “retribution” for Iran’s recent targeting of commercial shipping, officially ending a fragile ceasefire.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced these additional strikes are intended to further degrade Iran’s capacity to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington emphasized that it is holding Tehran accountable for what it described as unjustified aggression against commercial vessels. The escalation comes after Trump, speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, declared that the previously agreed ceasefire with Iran was over.
According to Trump, the Wednesday night strikes served as direct retaliation for Tuesday’s attacks on three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier on Wednesday, Trump offered seemingly conflicting statements regarding the conflict’s trajectory. He said the back-and-forth fighting would not lead to “long-term” military action and that “anything that happens is going to happen very fast.” However, he also suggested the US military might “just finish the job.” He had also warned earlier in the day that the US would “probably hit them hard again tonight.”
A US official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday evening that this second wave of American strikes would surpass the scale of Tuesday’s operations. During that initial Tuesday night wave, CENTCOM reported targeting more than 80 objectives, including Iranian air-defense systems, coastal radar installations, and 60 small boats belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In response to Tuesday’s initial strikes, the IRGC retaliated throughout Wednesday by targeting US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain. On Thursday morning, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry reported that air raid sirens were activated in the capital city of Manama. Although officials did not specify the origin of the threat, Bahrain had already been targeted by Iran the previous day. Meanwhile, in neighboring Qatar, residents received an “elevated security threat warning” on their mobile phones, which was followed shortly by an all-clear message. Both Qatar and Bahrain host major US military installations.
Inside Iran, state media reported several explosions on Wednesday night. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) documented blasts in the southern port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as on Abu Musa island in the Strait of Hormuz. Additionally, IRIB reported that shrapnel from projectiles struck a hospital in Chabahar, located further east along the southern coast of Iran.
Stay with us as we provide updates throughout the night.
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