Iran said Tuesday evening it had launched what it described as a “decisive” retaliatory operation against U.S. targets while American strikes on Iranian territory were still underway.
Iranian reports said missiles were fired toward U.S. bases in Jordan and claimed an American MQ-9 military drone was shot down over Iran.
Missile launches from Iran
(Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency)/ via REUTERS)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said U.S. forces had struck locations along Iran’s southern coast, including civilian sites, and that its forces had begun responding. In what it described as the first action of the retaliation, the IRGC said it had downed an MQ-9 drone.
Explosions were also heard in Eilat, while people in Jordan received alerts on their phones warning them to seek shelter because falling debris was possible.
The American attacks were still continuing Tuesday night, with explosions reported in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Chabahar, Jask, Sirik and Minab, as well as at Jiroft airport in Kerman province.
Iranian authorities said two civilians attending a wedding were killed in a strike in Sirik and that another 20 people were wounded.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that American forces were attacking targets belonging to the IRGC, saying the strikes followed recent Iranian attempts to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. troops deployed in the region.
The renewed escalation also sent energy prices sharply higher. Crude oil rose about 5% to around $90 a barrel, while Brent futures climbed roughly 7% to about $94.50. AFP reported that European gas prices reached their highest level since 2023.
About 90 minutes after the strikes began, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the United States was carrying out “large and powerful” attacks on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said the strikes were retaliation for what he described as Iran’s failed attempt to lay sea mines in the strait and for the firing of eight missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan, all of which he said were intercepted.
He warned that any further Iranian retaliation would trigger an attack at “a much harder and higher level,” adding that an even larger strike was still “waiting in the wings.”
“When it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump issued a similar threat, saying: “If they respond, they will be hit at a much greater level. And if they do it again, they won’t be there.”
He described the Iranians as “crazy and stupid” and said the United States had also struck a radar installation that Tehran had been rebuilding.
“They tried to rebuild their radar because they can’t see anything,” Trump said. “We waited until it was almost completed, and then we hit it.”
Trump also expressed deep skepticism about the prospect of another agreement with Tehran, saying: “I think an agreement with them isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. We gave them many, many chances.”
At the same time, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem warned Americans in the Middle East that the security situation remained volatile and could escalate unexpectedly, advising heightened vigilance and warning of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions.
The embassy also warned that U.S. diplomatic facilities, including some outside the Middle East, had previously been targeted and that Iran and groups aligned with it could attack additional American interests overseas.
The latest confrontation comes as Trump has continued to signal that he wants to maintain economic pressure on Tehran rather than return to a prolonged war.
“This is very limited,” Trump told reporters Monday, while arguing that Iran remained under severe economic strain. “That doesn’t mean we won’t hit them. We’ll see what happens.”
Trump had already vowed Monday to “hit hard” after Iranian missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates overnight Sunday.
Those attacks followed an earlier U.S. strike on missile launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington said the Larak strike was intended to prevent Iran from deploying naval mines in the strait and disrupting tanker traffic moving through the waterway as part of a U.S.-led effort to keep oil flowing out of the Persian Gulf and ease pressure on global prices.