Key takeaways:
- U.S. Central Command said it began additional self-defense strikes at 5:15 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday against multiple targets in Iran.
- CBS News reported the strikes took place early Thursday local time and that Iranian media described explosions or air defenses in multiple cities.
- CBS News said the latest strikes could add pressure to a two-month-old U.S.-Iran ceasefire that has not stopped exchanges of fire.
The U.S. military launched new strikes on targets inside Iran after President Donald Trump vowed to hit the country “hard,” deepening an exchange of fire that has tested a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
U.S. Central Command said it began “additional self-defense strikes” at 5:15 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, or 9:15 p.m. GMT, against “multiple targets in Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction.” CENTCOM said in a post on X that the strikes were “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
CBS News reported that the strikes took place early Thursday morning local time. Iranian media outlets reported that explosions were heard or air defenses were activated in multiple cities, according to CBS News.
The latest military action followed Trump’s pledge that U.S. forces would hit Iran “hard” in an effort to force the country to agree to a deal on the administration’s terms, CBS News reported. The BBC reported that Trump made the threat after both sides exchanged fire earlier in the week.
Those earlier exchanges unfolded across several reported episodes. The BBC reported that the U.S. launched strikes on Iran on Tuesday after Trump said Tehran had downed a U.S. Army helicopter. The BBC also reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it responded with strikes on U.S. bases in the region.
CBS News reported that an earlier U.S. salvo on Wednesday hit nearly 20 targets inside Iran in retaliation for Iran’s downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz this week. After those strikes, Iran launched drones at several U.S. allies in the region, CBS News reported.
The latest strikes could place additional pressure on what CBS News described as an already brittle two-month-old ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. The ceasefire has prevented most large-scale attacks, CBS News reported, but has not stopped the two countries from exchanging fire.
CENTCOM characterized the latest U.S. action as defensive. Neither CBS News nor the BBC reported casualty figures or damage assessments in their initial accounts. Both outlets described the situation as a breaking story, with further details expected.
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