US strikes Iran, Tehran retaliates; Trump claims ‘almost total control’ of Hormuz

The United States struck Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, prompting Iran to launch missiles toward US and allied positions in the region.

US Central Command said its forces had completed a wave of strikes against targets belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including air defence sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications facilities.

The strikes followed what CENTCOM described as recent attempted attacks by the IRGC on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and on American service members deployed in the region.

“Today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran,” CENTCOM said on X.

US President Donald Trump said the strikes were retaliation for an Iranian attempt to place sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and for an Iranian missile attack on a US military base in Jordan.

“The strikes are large and powerful,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

He warned that any Iranian retaliation would bring an even stronger US response.

Trump later said he was not seeking to force Iran back to negotiations, saying he preferred the current US position, which he described as having “almost total control” of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s economy “totally collapsing.”

Iran retaliates

Iranian forces launched attacks toward Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, according to officials and Iranian state media, defying Trump’s warning against retaliation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted a US base along Jordan’s Gulf of Aqaba coast, according to Iranian state television. Jordan’s military said it intercepted 10 missiles, while three others landed in unpopulated areas. Explosions believed to be missile interceptions were seen over the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba.

Iran also claimed that a US strike hit a wedding celebration in southern Iran, killing four people, including a young child, and wounding as many as 50.

“Make no mistake: these crimes will not go unpunished,” Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on X, vowing a “crushing” response.

The latest exchange followed overnight US-Iranian attacks that broke weeks of relative calm and raised fears that the broader conflict could again intensify.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, is one of the world's most important oil shipping routes.

Iran effectively closed the strait after the conflict began, while the United States has sought to keep the waterway open.

More than 50,000 US service members are currently operating across the Middle East, CENTCOM said, adding that American forces remained prepared to carry out further operations ordered by Trump.