WASHINGTON — U.S. Central Command confirmed American forces carried out another round of airstrikes against Iranian military targets, including missile launch sites, air-defense systems and command facilities, as fighting surrounding the Strait of Hormuz continued to escalate.
CENTCOM said the latest operation was conducted at the direction of President Donald Trump and targeted Iranian military capabilities that could be used against American forces, regional allies and commercial shipping.
American forces struck command centers, air-defense positions, missile and drone capabilities and coastal surveillance facilities at several locations, including Bandar Abbas, Iran’s largest port and a major base for the Iranian navy and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Earlier strikes also targeted coastal-defense and cruise-missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute operation.
The strikes are part of a broader American effort to weaken Iran’s ability to threaten vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping routes for oil and natural gas.
CENTCOM previously said American forces used precision munitions against Iranian coastal-defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities in Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas. The military said more than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently deployed across the Middle East.
This is no longer a limited exchange of warnings.
Iran has repeatedly used missiles, drones and threats against commercial shipping to challenge American control of the waterway. The United States is now answering by destroying the systems Iran could use to carry out those attacks.
The message from President Trump and the United States military is clear: Iran will not be permitted to hold international commerce hostage.
The Strait of Hormuz is not Iran’s private property. It is an international waterway, and millions of people around the world depend on the energy, food, fertilizer and other goods that move through it every day.
Iranian forces retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, countries that host American military personnel. Authorities reported no immediate casualties from those attacks.
Iranian officials have also warned that attacks could expand to regional infrastructure should the United States target Iranian bridges, power plants or other strategic facilities.
Those threats show exactly why Iran’s missile capabilities cannot be ignored.
A regime that threatens American troops, attacks commercial vessels and openly warns neighboring nations of wider destruction cannot be treated as though it is merely defending itself. Iran has consistently used intimidation, proxy forces and control of strategic waterways to gain political leverage.
CENTCOM said its latest strikes were designed to degrade Iran’s ability to attack shipping and threaten American interests. U.S. officials have not released a complete assessment of the damage, and Iran’s claims regarding casualties and destruction have not been independently verified.
The latest fighting has further weakened an interim agreement intended to reduce hostilities. American and Iranian forces have exchanged strikes across the region as diplomatic efforts have failed to produce a lasting settlement.
President Trump has said a negotiated agreement remains possible, but he has also warned that military pressure will continue if Iran refuses to stop its attacks.
Diplomacy should always be the goal, but diplomacy without strength is merely an invitation for more aggression.
American service members are operating in one of the most dangerous regions in the world. They should never be placed in a position where political hesitation allows Iran time to rebuild missile sites, reposition drones or prepare another attack.
The United States did not create Iran’s campaign of intimidation in the Strait of Hormuz, but it has a responsibility to defend its forces and protect the free movement of commercial vessels.
Iran had a choice.
It could step back, stop attacking ships and negotiate in good faith. Instead, it chose missiles, drones and threats.
Now its military launch sites are being destroyed.
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