Updated ,first published
Washington: Tehran has warned it will retaliate after the United States struck Iranian military targets for the second consecutive night, as the ceasefire and tentative peace deal continue to fray amid renewed Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said that at President Donald Trump’s direction, it struck about 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline.
“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” the US military said.
The Wednesday night (Tehran time) operation was a slightly larger operation than the previous night’s, which hit about 80 targets – mostly small boats used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Explosions were reported near Bandar Abbas, a major port city on the Strait of Hormuz, and Sirik, which is also on the strait.
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, a state-run TV news agency, also reported explosions near Konarak and Chabar – both cities in the country’s south-east corner on the Gulf of Oman. Reuters reported blasts at the militarised island of Abu Musa at the western entrance of the strait, citing state TV.
It prompted Iran’s powerful parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – a key Iranian negotiator and a signatory to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US – to reiterate Iran’s claim to control of the strait and warn of retaliation to come.
“America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit,” he wrote on X.
“Don’t flail around pointlessly, or you’ll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with ‘Iranian arrangements’, not American threats.”
Nournews, affiliated with Iran’s top security body, cited a military source as saying Tehran would soon launch a “massive attack” on US bases in the region, a threat echoed by a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
“The aggressor enemy and its accomplices will be severely punished,” Mohsen Rezaei wrote on X.
Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar sounded missile alert sirens warning of an Iranian attack mid-morning on Thursday (AEST). There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries. Kuwait’s military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles.
The US and the Gulf states have accused Iran of attacking three ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi Arabia-flagged crude oil tanker. Iran denied responsibility.
After the initial US strikes on Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The renewed violence represents the biggest threat to an already-fragile ceasefire since the MoU was signed between the US and Iran in mid-June.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday, Trump said he considered the ceasefire to be effectively “over” and later foreshadowed additional strikes following Tehran’s aggression.
“We knocked out 28 boats last night, little ones,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Will we go [again] tonight? Normally, I wouldn’t tell you, but you know what? There’s not a thing they can do about it … so, the answer is ‘probably’. Because they deserve it.”
Trump added: “There may be a big attack, and it’ll knock out a lot of stuff. We don’t knock out nothing – we knock out a lot.”
But in a gaffe that went viral, the US president told a story about missiles being fired at the USS Abraham Lincoln several months ago by the “Islamic Republic of Japan”. He meant Iran.
The latest strikes began shortly after Trump left the NATO summit to return to Washington. Air Force One was airborne as the strikes started.
The US president departed Turkey on the old Air Force One plane, rather than the new one given to him by Qatar – on which he arrived. He did not answer directly when asked whether this was due to security concerns amid the conflict with Iran.
Reporters on the plane were told to keep their blinds closed before departure from Ankara, though Trump said he was not asked to close his. He did not acknowledge any specific threats, but said: “You’re probably on a dangerous plane because of the sleazebags that we have to deal with.”
The 14-point MoU signed in June was supposed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, commence a 60-day negotiating period for a final deal, and continue the ceasefire that began in April.
Earlier in Ankara, Trump talked down the potential of reaching an agreement with Iran to properly end the war.
“A lot of people say they’re very dishonourable people, and they can’t keep a deal,” he said of the Iranians. “I’m not seeing it with them. My whole life is deals; I don’t see it with them.”
Trump insisted Iran still wanted to make a deal “so badly” and had “called” on Wednesday (US time). Asked why Iran would shoot at ships in the strait if it wanted to make a deal, Trump said: “Because they’re sort of crazy, they’re a little bit out of control. But they want to make a deal.”
The president said he was considering reimposing the naval blockade against Iranian ships. US Central Command posted a video on social media showing the massive armada and air fleet still patrolling the region’s waterways and skies.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the latest strikes.
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.From our partners
‘You’ll get hit’: Iran vows to retaliate after second night of US strikes
