U.S. strikes Iran as Tehran retaliates across Gulf

The U.S. military launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, and Tehran answered with missiles and drones aimed at sites across the region, including Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, in a sharp escalation of a conflict that had gone quiet for a month.

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday evening it had struck Iranian military targets, including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites. The command said the attacks came after attempts by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to target commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. forces in the Middle East.

President Donald Trump said U.S. forces had targeted Iranian radar systems. “They tried to rebuild their radar because they can’t see anything,” Trump told Fox News. “We waited until it was almost built and then we hit it.”

Trump also warned Iran against retaliation, saying earlier that if Tehran responded to the strikes, “they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level.” Later, he wrote on social media that he would not force Iran into talks. “I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” he said. “I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing.”

Iranian officials accused the United States of hitting civilian areas, including a home where a wedding was taking place in Kuhestak, in southern Iran’s Sirik county. Ahmad Nafisi, deputy governor of Hormozgan province, told Iranian state television the strike killed five people, including a child, and wounded at least 68 others. Al Jazeera reported that Sirik county’s governor, Reza Shahidiyan, said 63 people were wounded, including 50 women and children, and that the injured were in stable condition at a hospital in Minab.

Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called the attack “brutal” and said more than 50 people, including women and children, had been killed and wounded. “Iran will respond to these savage crimes with firmness,” he said. Hossein Kermanpour, an Iranian Health Ministry official, wrote on X: “The martyrs include a child. Electricity and telephone are cut off.”

The Iranian Red Crescent Society published footage showing a damaged building with blown-out walls and windows and debris scattered on the ground, along with images of children receiving hospital treatment, Al Jazeera reported. The semi-official Fars news agency published a video account from a child who said he heard fighter jets before the blast. “When we arrived there, an explosion occurred. It was very intense. Bricks, stones, and cement hit me in the face and head, and many others were injured,” the child said. “Everyone was just ordinary civilians.”

U.S. Central Command said it was aware of reports of civilian casualties. Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson, said the reports “originated from Iranian state media.” He added, “The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC.”

Iranian state media also reported strikes on a fishmeal factory on Qeshm Island, a fishing pier and a Ports and Maritime Organization tower in Sirik, as well as civilian sites in Hormozgan province. State television said a projectile hit an area outside the runway at Jiroft Airport in Kerman province, causing no casualties or damage to airport infrastructure. It also said parts of Hormozgan’s power network were struck.

After the U.S. strikes began, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Jordan. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted a U.S. base along Jordan’s Gulf of Aqaba coast, according to Iranian state television. Jordan’s military said it shot down 10 missiles and that three others landed in unpopulated areas. Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted drone attacks, while Bahrain said all attacks had been intercepted after Iran reported launching drones at U.S. forces there.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and joint military command threatened “crushing and devastating blows” against the United States. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had said earlier Tuesday that Iran was ready to return to a June interim ceasefire if Washington did the same.

The renewed fighting has put fresh pressure on oil markets. Crude prices, already up about 7% this week, rose again after the strikes, and the U.S. average price for a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.10, according to AAA, up from $3.19 a year earlier.