U.S. forces struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets inside Iran on Tuesday after attacks on American personnel and commercial shipping, while President Donald Trump warned of a larger operation if Tehran retaliated, hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered to return to a June ceasefire framework if Washington resumed its commitments.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S. forces launched a new round of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets inside Iran on Tuesday, escalating the conflict only hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly offered to return to a June ceasefire agreement with the United States.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the operation began at noon Eastern time after President Donald Trump told Fox News that American forces would be “hitting back hard” in response to attacks targeting U.S. bases in Jordan over the weekend.
“Today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran. 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 in a statement circulated through an X post.
President Trump later warned that the strikes could be followed by an even larger operation if Iran retaliated.
“The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines. They have been completely removed or detonated!”
Trump also said Iran had fired eight missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan, all of which were intercepted.
“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 wrote. “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!”
Iranian state media subsequently reported explosions at several locations. Iran’s state broadcaster said blasts were reported on Qeshm Island along the northern side of the Strait of Hormuz, while state-linked Nour News reported explosions in the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
The strikes followed a period of intensifying attacks on commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, Iran has attacked eight commercial vessels in the strait since a blockade affecting ships traveling to or from Iranian ports resumed July 14. Four of those incidents have occurred since last Monday.
Tehran has remained defiant amid the escalating confrontation and has warned that it will prevent oil from being exported through the Gulf.
The widening military campaign unfolded against a sharply different diplomatic message from Pezeshkian earlier Tuesday.
The Iranian president said Tehran would immediately return to the June memorandum of understanding if the United States resumed its commitments under the agreement.
That framework called for a ceasefire and negotiations toward a broader peace arrangement but quickly collapsed as Washington and Tehran resumed military exchanges.
Pezeshkian made his comments while meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Putin told Pezeshkian that Russia stood in solidarity with Iran as Tehran pursued what Moscow described as its national interests. Pezeshkian thanked Russia for its support during the war and in opposition to U.S. sanctions and called for the two countries to resist American “unilateralism.”
The diplomatic overture came while Iran remained under intensifying economic pressure from U.S. sanctions and a falling rial.
Russia and China have both strengthened ties with Tehran, while the Trump administration has imposed sweeping economic restrictions and maintained a blockade intended to pressure the Iranian government.
The escalating conflict could also become a subject of direct talks among Trump, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russian outlet Vesti reported that the three leaders may hold trilateral discussions during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Potential subjects include the Iran war, energy security and the Strait of Hormuz, where continued attacks have raised concerns about global oil shipments and regional security arrangements.
The possibility of talks comes as Moscow and Beijing maintain closer relations with Tehran while Washington combines military operations with economic sanctions.
The nuclear issue remains another central element of the confrontation.
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that its estimate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile through June 13, 2025, had not changed from its previous findings, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.
Trump has repeatedly said that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
The IAEA separately disclosed additional findings concerning undeclared nuclear activity in Syria under the former government of Bashar Assad.
According to the agency, former Syrian authorities failed to declare nuclear material, facilities and activities that included a reactor under construction at Deir al-Zor and a fuel fabrication plant.
Inspectors confirmed approximately 73 tons of natural uranium metal at one Syrian location. That amount included roughly 55 tons contained in 8,808 fuel rods and another 18 tons of uranium scrap and waste.
The agency said it had been unable to verify the safeguards status of the facilities and related nuclear material.
Syria’s current authorities, however, have demonstrated transparency and cooperation as the IAEA works to resolve outstanding questions concerning nuclear activities carried out under the previous government.
The agency distributed the reports to its member states as scrutiny of Iran’s nuclear program and the broader security situation in the Middle East continued to intensify.
Tuesday’s U.S. strikes underscored how quickly the confrontation had moved from renewed ceasefire rhetoric back to direct military action.
Only hours after Pezeshkian offered to restore the June memorandum, CENTCOM was striking IRGC targets inside Iran in response to what Washington described as attempted attacks against American troops and commercial shipping. Trump’s warning that a larger attack was “waiting in the wings” added a new threat of escalation, while Tehran reported explosions at strategic locations along and near the Strait of Hormuz.
Original article
Comments