The United States military executed a new wave of airstrikes against Iran on Sunday night, targeting dozens of locations in an operation aimed at further degrading Tehran's capacity to disrupt commercial shipping in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. The strikes, ordered by President Donald Trump, began around 5 p.m. ET under the direction of US Central Command (CENTCOM), which announced the operation on X as part of efforts to “hold Iranian forces accountable.”
Scope of the Strikes
CENTCOM reported that the strikes hit “dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions.” Among the sites bombarded were Iranian military air-defense systems, coastal radar installations, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats. The US deployed an array of assets, including fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and, for the first time, one-way attack sea drones, showcasing significant military power.
Iranian state media confirmed strikes across several northern and southern provinces, reporting at least one fatality and multiple injuries, according to CNN. CENTCOM stated, “U.S. forces are postured and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping despite Iran’s continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations.”
Iranian Retaliation
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched targeted strikes on US infrastructure at military bases in Kuwait, causing damage to fuel storage tanks and Patriot air defense systems, as reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency early Monday local time. The IRGC’s air force also struck US facilities at the US Air Base in Sheikh Isa, Bahrain, including helicopter maintenance and repair hangars, a facility housing a P-8 Poseidon aircraft, and the military’s drone command and control center.
These attacks follow an intense US bombing campaign on Saturday that hit 140 targets across Iran, after Iran attacked a commercial vessel and declared the oil choke point closed. Saturday’s strikes targeted missile and drone sites, naval assets, ammunition storage, communication networks, and surveillance locations, CENTCOM said.
Trump’s Statement
President Trump insisted the Strait of Hormuz remained open, contradicting Tehran’s warnings. “Yeah, it’s open. We bombed the hell out of them last night,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” In response to the US airstrikes, Iran launched a wide-scale assault on American facilities across the Middle East, escalating tensions and jeopardizing negotiations to end the conflict.
The IRGC claimed to have destroyed a command-and-control center and drone hangars in Jordan, targeted a radar site in Kuwait, attacked aircraft carrier support platforms in Oman, and struck a jet maintenance center and command base in Qatar. Additional attacks and missile interceptions were reported in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where the US maintains military bases.
Diplomatic Context
Iran and the US are nearly halfway through a 60-day interim deal aimed at a permanent end to the war that began in late February. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, vowed that attacks would continue if the US undermined Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, which oversees 20% of the world’s oil transport.
