Trump says US Strikes on Iran Retaliate for Hormuz Mine Attempts
The US president said American forces were striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran vowed a forceful response and oil prices climbed above $94 a barrel.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - US forces continued striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as President Donald Trump said the operation was in retaliation for an Iranian attempt to place sea mines in the strategic waterway and for a missile attack on a US military base in Jordan.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the United States was carrying out “large and powerful” strikes against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
“The United States is, as we speak, striking Iranian Targets near the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said, describing the strikes as retaliation for what he called Iran’s “failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait.”
He said there were currently no mines in the waterway, adding that they had either been removed or detonated.
Trump also said Iran had fired eight missiles at a US military base in Jordan, all of which, according to his statement, were successfully intercepted.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level,” Trump said, warning that a larger attack was still being prepared.
He added that such an attack, when carried out, could leave “very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that the United States would regret its latest attacks, while an Iranian military source told Tasnim News Agency that Tehran would respond through multiple means.
The source said Iranian armed forces would “certainly” respond to what it described as the US attack on parts of Iran and that the response would be “many times” stronger than the American strikes.
“As we warned and promised before, the Iranian armed forces will respond firmly and forcefully to any aggression against our territory and interests,” the source said.
The Iranian military source also said American interests and bases in the region were facing increasingly intense Iranian attacks.
“The madness resulting from defeat has confused and stunned the Americans and pushed them to suffer a double humiliation with every new folly,” the source said, adding that Americans would “look to the sky and watch their humiliation.”
The latest escalation comes as US forces continue their attacks on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
Fox News reported that US airstrikes and aerial engagements against Iranian targets were still continuing.
Oil prices also rose sharply amid the escalation, with global oil prices increasing by more than four percent and Brent crude surpassing $94 per barrel.
The US State Department urged American citizens in Middle Eastern countries to exercise the highest level of vigilance and caution, while preparing for the possibility of disruptions to air travel and closures of airspace in the region.
The latest developments follow an earlier wave of US strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, including several military positions near the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said the strikes began at noon Eastern Time and followed recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported multiple explosions across southern Iran, including Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Konarak, Jask, Sirik and Minab.
Iranian television reported five explosions on Qeshm Island and in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tasnim News Agency reported six explosions in Konarak at around 7:30 p.m., while noting that authorities had not yet confirmed the scale of the damage or the precise locations of the explosions.
A Tasnim correspondent on Qeshm Island reported hearing eight explosions along the island’s southern coast between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m.
Some unofficial reports also said explosions were heard from Qeshm Airport, while Tasnim’s correspondent in Bandar Abbas reported explosions in parts of Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
With the US strikes continuing and Tehran threatening retaliation, the Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of the rapidly escalating confrontation.