U.S. forces on Wednesday night conducted fresh strikes against Iran as the conflict widened across the region.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media that its forces had completed "a heavy wave of strikes" at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday (0200 GMT Thursday) in response to Iran's attempted missile attacks a day earlier.
U.S. STRIKES AGAIN
According to CENTCOM, U.S. forces struck dozens of targets belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities.
More than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently deployed to the Middle East and remain "highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready," CENTCOM said.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed twice that Washington would retaliate forcefully against Iran. "We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that he had been briefed that a U.S.-owned liquefied natural gas carrier in Egypt was attacked earlier in the day.
Iranian media earlier reported explosions in the country's southern regions. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and locations in Bushehr province had come under attack.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the latest U.S. operation was expected to be broader in scope than previous exchanges between the two sides in recent weeks, targeting more sites across a wider geographic area, citing a U.S. official.
Following the U.S. strikes, the IRGC said Thursday they "will punish the aggressor today," according to media reports.
BATTLE FOR THE STRAIT
The IRGC announced Thursday that two oil tankers seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz were forced to turn back after one of them caught fire the previous night.
In statements published on its news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC claimed the tankers had attempted to navigate an "unsafe" southern route after being "provoked" by U.S. military aircraft.
It stressed that the IRGC's naval forces control the Strait of Hormuz with power, warning that those regional countries that assist the "aggressor" will receive a harsh response if they do not alter their behavior.
The IRGC underlined that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be reopened as long as the U.S. officials' threats and interventions in maritime traffic in the region continue, saying threats and interventions will only further complicate the circumstances.
CONFLICT WIDENS ACROSS REGION
Trump also met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House on Wednesday, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official and another source familiar with the meeting.
According to the report, the Saudi defense minister told U.S. Vice President JD Vance that the kingdom was capable of handling the situation with the Houthis and did not need U.S. military involvement at this stage.
The Saudis are negotiating with the Houthis, which have threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi ports and even conducted several attacks on Saudi ships in the Red Sea, said the report, citing anonymous sources.
The latest developments came after the United States said it had intercepted an attempted Iranian missile attack targeting U.S. forces on Tuesday and carried out joint strikes with Saudi Arabia against Iran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq early Wednesday.
The strikes targeted multiple headquarters of Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) across several Iraqi provinces, including Baghdad, Basra, and Nineveh, leaving at least 20 people dead and 32 others wounded, according to a PMF statement.
The operation marks a notable pivot in Riyadh's security posture, according to analysts.
Sabah al-Sheikh, a professor of politics at Baghdad University, told Xinhua that the operation signals Saudi Arabia's transition from a traditionally defensive posture toward a strategy of proactive, cross-border deterrence. "The strikes underscore a deepening U.S.-Saudi security alignment at a time when regional stability is at a tipping point," al-Sheikh added.
