US Completes Retaliatory Strikes on Iran Following Missile Attack

The US military completed a 'heavy wave' of strikes against Iranian military targets Wednesday night, according to Centcom, in direct retaliation for Tuesday's ballistic missile attacks on American forces. The strikes mark a return to active hostilities after both sides halted operations for several days amid apparent diplomatic talks.

Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan and at ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to BBC reporting. Centcom said all of Iran's missiles were intercepted. Jordan's armed forces confirmed that air defense systems successfully shot down five Iranian missiles targeting the kingdom's territory.

In response, Centcom said the US targeted 'military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities' belonging to Iran. The strikes began at 20:00 ET Wednesday and lasted about an hour, according to Centcom. The agency reported hitting 'dozens' of IRGC targets, though it did not provide a specific count.

The IRGC said it had targeted a US air base and a command center in Jordan 'in response to the acts of aggression of the American child-killing army' on Tuesday. The IRGC also stated that its naval forces struck three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after they 'ignored warnings' and sailed along what it described as an 'unsafe and illegal route.'

Iranian state media reported that the latest US strikes killed three people, including a two-year-old child, on Qeshm island. According to reporting by Fars citing Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, a US attack on a residential home in the Chah Tangu neighborhood of Qeshm killed a father, mother, and their 2-year-old child.

The return to strikes follows President Trump's announcement Tuesday that retaliation was coming. 'We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming,' Trump told reporters at the White House. Last Friday, Trump had suspended an intensive bombing campaign that lasted 13 consecutive nights targeting Iranian weapons and military sites, with scores of people reported killed in that earlier operation.

Diplomatically, Trump characterized ongoing talks as 'very friendly negotiations,' per BBC reporting. Tehran denied any discussions were occurring. On Wednesday, Axios cited an unnamed US official saying Trump met Saudi defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who conveyed that Saudi Arabia wants to de-escalate tensions. No independent Saudi confirmation of this meeting has been reported.

The broader regional conflict has also drawn in Iraqi territory. On Tuesday, Centcom said joint US-Saudi strikes hit 'multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq' in response to over 30 IRGC-directed drone attacks in the preceding 72 hours. Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces, dominated by Iran-backed Shia militias, said at least 20 of its members were killed in those US-Saudi strikes. The Iraqi presidency denounced the bombing as 'an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty.' Trump told Fox News the strikes had been 'co-ordinated with the Iraqi government,' contradicting the Iraqi government's public statement.

When the US and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in February, Trump said the war would last only a few weeks. The conflict has now extended five months with no end in sight.