Washington and Tehran traded new blows on Tuesday as US forces launched fresh strikes on targets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran, and Iran responded with missiles and drones fired from its territory, according to reports from both countries.
US President Donald Trump warned in a post on Truth Social that if Iran "retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level," describing the new strikes near the Strait of Hormuz as "large and powerful."
"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!" Trump wrote.
In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump claimed US forces destroyed "a lot of radar" in Iran's network, including systems Tehran attempted to rebuild. "This is a very big hit today. If it goes a third time, they're going to be totally wiped out as a country," he said. He added that the USS George Washington is "loaded to the gills" and "We're loaded up."
Trump said Gulf allies were notified ahead of the latest strikes, according to a Fox News report.
The strikes were announced by US Central Command (CENTCOM) at 12 m. Eastern Time (1600 GMT). CENTCOM said they followed recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against US service members deployed in the region.
Iran's Fars News Agency reported that the operation had begun. The IRGC said it had launched what it called a "regretful response to the aggressors," accusing the US of carrying out "blind and desperate attacks" on several locations, including civilian areas. The IRGC said the strikes had tightened the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Explosions were heard Tuesday in the Iranian port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik, and on Qeshm Island, according to reports. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing sources, reported that Iranian military launched missiles toward US bases in regional countries on Tuesday evening.
The IRGC warned Tuesday that the United States "will regret its new attacks," Iran's Fars news agency reported.
Sirens were activated in Jordan, according to state TV, which also reported rocket interceptions in Mafraq. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that rockets had been intercepted in the Jordanian city.
Two crude oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Monday evening, Greece-based maritime risk organisation Marisks said on Tuesday.
The latest exchanges came after US forces struck Iran for the second time in two days on Tuesday, targeting IRGC sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the US operation came in retaliation for what he described as Iran's failed attempt to place sea mines in the strait and its missile attack on a US military base in Jordan.
The strikes followed a weekend exchange of fire — the first since July — and threatened to reignite the six-month-old conflict that has driven global energy prices higher. Brent crude futures, already up 2% on the day, jumped almost 2% more after reports of the strikes.
Tehran warned that it would prevent oil from being exported from the Gulf. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was quoted as saying: "If the enemy wants us not to export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference that Washington was "addicted to making excessive demands and has mistaken negotiations for dictating terms."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that Washington was about to impose new sanctions. He said last week that Washington would significantly escalate economic sanctions against countries that do business with Iran. Iran has remained under heavy economic sanctions for half a century, and neither threats of strikes nor new sanctions appeared to have materially changed Tehran's position.
US forces attacked Iran's Larak Island on Sunday, while Iran responded by launching missiles at two US air bases in Jordan, according to reports. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would reciprocate immediately if Washington honoured its commitments under a June Memorandum of Understanding, which declared an end to fighting that had killed thousands in Iran and Lebanon since US and Israeli strikes began on February 28.
State media reported explosions on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Jask, and Sirik, and said US forces attacked a civilian airport in Jiroft in southern Iran. The US Embassy in Qatar urged Americans to exercise "heightened vigilance."
PVM analyst John Evans commented: "The tit-for-tat missile exchanges between the US and Iran bring validation to those who believe that even if not a 'forever war', this conflict will run and run."