Iran has promised to respond to a new wave of attacks by the United States military as fighting renews between the two countries.
The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM) of the US military said on Tuesday that it struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets.
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“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” CENTCOM said.
The IRGC was quick to vow that it will respond to the US strikes. “Severe punishment awaits the aggressors, and America will regret its new attacks,” the Guards’ spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said in a statement.
Iran has previously targeted American bases in the region following similar attacks, so the US strikes risk sparking a new cycle of fighting.
Iranian semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported explosions in the south of the country, including in Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.
US President Donald Trump said the strikes on Tuesday were “large and powerful” and warned Iran against responding.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” Trump said in a social media post.
The US president has repeatedly issued similar threats since the start of the war in February.
The US State Department urged Americans in the Middle East on Tuesday to remain alert and prepare for travel disruptions, warning of “the potential for unforeseen escalation”.
“Americans traveling to and from the region should monitor information about airport and airline operations,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department said in a statement.
“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including U.S. businesses and other institutions.”
Tuesday’s strikes follow an exchange of attacks on Sunday when the US military struck Larak Island in southern Iran and Tehran retaliated with missile launches against a base housing American troops in Jordan.
Trump had promised to hit Iran “hard” in response to the clashes on Sunday.
The fighting saw the first attacks by both countries since July. The Trump administration had said that it was shifting its strategy from military strikes to intense economic pressure on Iran.
The US has imposed a naval siege on Iranian ports while threatening Tehran’s trade partners with secondary sanctions.
On Tuesday, US Treasury Scott Bessent said the US would widen its sanctions on a weekly basis, adding that Washington would likely announce a new bank sanction this week with a similar measure to follow next week. He said the US was also looking at targeting airline leasing companies and other entities that do business with the IRGC.
Iran, meanwhile, has continued to assert its control over Hormuz – a major artery for the global energy trade.
Attacks on ships around the strait have been reported almost daily, despite Trump and his aides saying that the US is managing to get millions of barrels of oil through the strait daily despite the Iranian blockade.
On Monday, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an oil tanker was hit by three “unknown projectiles” while transiting through Hormuz.
The crisis in Hormuz has sent energy prices soaring. The price of a barrel of oil jumped by more than four percent after the strikes on Tuesday.
In the US, the average cost of one gallon (3.8 liter) of petrol is now more than $4, up from less than $3 before the war.
