Updated ,first published
Washington: The United States military announced its first major strikes against Iran in more than a month, in what it said was an operation targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following recent aggression.
The strikes began at 7.30pm Tehran time on Tuesday (2am Wednesday AEST), US Central Command said. “The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”
Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, and other locations.
The last time the US military confirmed strikes against Iran was on July 29, although it conducted “limited, precise actions” against Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the “large and powerful” strikes in a social media post. He said they were in retaliation for Iran’s failed attempt to add mines to the strait and its firing of eight missiles towards a US base in Jordan – which were 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, 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 on Truth Social.
The renewed strikes followed Iranian attacks on two large tankers carrying oil out of the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, local time, after a period of relative calm.
Projectiles hit the Saudi Arabian-flagged crude carrier Sidr, followed minutes later by a Liberian-flagged vessel, Senegal Prosperity, which is owned by a South Korean company.
The tankers each loaded 2 million barrels of Saudi crude at the Juaymah terminal last week, Kpler data showed. Saudi Aramco resumed oil loadings and sales from inside the strait in August.
Monday marked six months since the US and Israel launched their first strikes against Iran, assassinating the supreme leader Ali Khamenei and destroying the country’s navy and other military assets.
However, despite a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran signed in June, there has been no permanent deal to end the war and re-establish safe passage for global shipping through the strait.
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
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