Iran will respond to the US' newest wave of strikes with an attack "several times larger," the semi-official Tasnim news outlet reported on Tuesday night, citing a senior Iranian military source.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it began a wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran on Tuesday. According to CENTCOM, the strikes are being carried out in retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the recent attack on US troops stationed in the region. Iranian state media reported that several explosions were heard in the cities of Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz, and Sirik.
Following the strikes, electrical power to several parts of the Hormozgan province was lost, Iranian state media IRIB reported. Power has been restored to Qeshm county in Hormozgan, the area's governor announced on Wednesday morning. IRIB added that a US airstrike on Sirik hit a wedding, killing four and injuring 35. The US did not immediately respond to the allegations. Air defenses were also reportedly activated in eastern Tehran, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency said.
US President Donald Trump later confirmed the strikes in a post to Truth Social, echoing CENTCOM's reasoning for the strikes. "The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote. "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!), and the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan."
Trump threatened Iran that, should it respond to the "very justified attack," it will be hit "again at a much harder and higher level, 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!" (Read More)
