US strikes Iranian targets again as tensions escalate sharply
US forces launched fresh strikes on Iranian Revolutionary Guard targets on Tuesday, dashing hopes that last weekend's exchange of fire would not widen into renewed conflict. Oil prices had already climbed after reports that two tankers were hit near the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said on Tuesday that around 4pm GMT American forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets inside Iran, describing the action as a response to recent attempted attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on US troops in the region. Iranian state television reported explosions on Qeshm Island on the strait's northern side, while the state-linked Nour News agency reported blasts in the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
Tensions had already been rising after weekend strikes in which US forces hit Iran's Larak Island on Sunday, prompting Iran to fire missiles at two American airbases in Jordan. Although Donald Trump had threatened a strong US response, he told reporters on Monday it did not signal a return to full-scale war. Still, in social media posts the president used far harsher language, warning that any Iranian retaliation would be met at "a much harder and higher level" and that if a larger, still-withheld strike were unleashed, "there will be very little left" of the Islamic Republic.
An IRGC spokesperson, quoted by the Fars news agency, said the US "will regret" the new attacks. Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek early Tuesday that Tehran would reciprocate immediately if Washington honoured the commitments of a June memorandum of understanding meant to end the fighting. Iranian officials, however, showed no public sign of backing down: parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned that if Iran's enemies tried to block its Gulf oil exports, no country's oil would flow, and that Tehran would respond militarily to any tightened "siege."
Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington of mistaking negotiation for dictation, warning that Iran would use "all our capabilities," both on the battlefield and diplomatically, in response.
