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The US military said its forces struck Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) targets in Iran on Tuesday in response to attacks on shipping as well as American service personnel.
In a post on X, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes followed “recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that explosions had been heard in the areas of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, and Qeshm. The outlet said local authorities had also reported strikes in the districts of Chabahar and Konarak.
Hostilities sparked back into life on Sunday after the US carried out fresh strikes on what it said were IRGC minelaying forces in the Strait of Hormuz, its first military action in the waterway in a month.
The IRGC quickly confirmed strikes had hit Larak Island and warned of a “retaliatory response.” It then said on Monday that its forces had carried out attacks on two US bases in Jordan and a base in the UAE. The UAE’s Ministry of Defence later denied that its Al Menhad air base had been targeted.
CENTCOM has rejected Iran’s claims that its Sunday strikes were an “act of aggression” and said its forces were responding to an “imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz,” a strategic waterway that usually carries around a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade.
“In essence, Iran created the threat and the U.S. military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce,” it said.
Washington and Tehran have been locked in conflict since late February, when the US and Israel launched a first wave of strikes on Iran.
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz following those strikes, and it has since become a key sticking point in peace talks with the US.