The escalation came after the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert earlier Tuesday warning Americans that the regional security environment remained volatile.
By United with Israel Staff
U.S. forces carried out a major wave of strikes against Iranian military targets Tuesday night, hitting air defenses, naval assets and mine-laying capabilities after President Donald Trump accused Tehran of attempting to mine the Strait of Hormuz and attacking American forces in Jordan.
U.S. Central Command said the Sept. 1 strikes targeted facilities belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including air-defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
The strikes followed what CENTCOM described as recent attempted IRGC attacks against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American service members.
Trump announced the operation as it was underway, describing the strikes near the Strait of Hormuz as “large and powerful.”
The president said the attack was retaliation for Iran’s failed attempt to place additional naval mines in the strategic waterway and for an Iranian missile attack targeting a U.S. military base in Jordan.
Trump said eight Iranian missiles fired at the base were successfully intercepted and warned Tehran against further retaliation.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level,” Trump said, threatening an even larger attack that he said was “waiting in the wings.”
Iran nevertheless retaliated, with the IRGC claiming Wednesday that it attacked U.S. bases in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The IRGC said its attack on Kuwait’s Ali al-Salem Air Base involved both missiles and drones.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also vowed a “decisive” response to the American strikes.
Iran acknowledged casualties from the U.S. operation. An IRGC official said three members of the Basij paramilitary force were killed and others wounded in a strike on Lavan Island, while the IRGC said four members of its Aerospace Force were killed in Kermanshah Province.
The renewed fighting drew condemnation from several Arab governments. Qatar and Egypt condemned Iran’s attacks on Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait as violations of their sovereignty and called for an end to the military escalation.
Kuwait separately condemned Iranian attacks against Bahrain and Jordan and expressed solidarity with both countries.
The escalation came after the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a security alert earlier Tuesday warning Americans that the regional security environment remained volatile and carried the potential for “unforeseen escalation.”
The embassy urged Americans in the Middle East to exercise heightened vigilance and prepare for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and other travel disruptions. It also warned that Iran and Iran-aligned groups could target U.S. interests and Americans overseas.
CENTCOM said more than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently operating across the Middle East and remain “vigilant, lethal, and prepared” to carry out further operations ordered by Trump.
Later Tuesday night, Trump dismissed reports that the strikes were intended to pressure Tehran back into negotiations.
“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table,” Trump wrote, adding that he “couldn’t care less” whether Tehran signed an agreement.
Trump said the United States was now in a stronger position, claiming “almost total control of the Hormuz Strait” while Iran’s economy was “totally collapsing.”
“When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” he added.
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