"Now it's our turn." The US resumed strikes on Iran
After several days of calm, American military personnel announced a new series of strikes on Iran, calling them a response to Tehran's earlier attempt to attack US troops in the region.
Photo: Handout Photo by Morteza Akhoundi via Getty Images
The day before, President Donald Trump announced a "very strong" strike after Iran's attack on an American military base in Jordan, writes the BBC.
"Today at 8:00 PM ET, US armed forces began striking Iran. These strikes are a powerful response to Iran's attempted attack on American troops deployed in the Middle East," stated the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on the social network X.
At 10:00 PM ET (5 AM Minsk time), the "series of powerful strikes" was completed. According to CENTCOM, the strikes targeted dozens of facilities belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC): command centers, missile and drone launch sites, and coastal defense facilities.
Explosions were heard in several areas in southern Iran, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. State television reported explosions in the city of Ahvaz. The Tasnim agency reports that a missile strike affected a residential area on Qeshm Island. An explosion was also reported in Bushehr, where a nuclear power plant, in whose construction Russia participates, is located.
These are the first US strikes on Iran since Donald Trump paused bombing on Friday after mutual attacks, which lasted for 13 consecutive nights, to allow negotiations to resume. The new strikes were a response to Iran's attack on an American military base in Jordan, carried out on Tuesday. According to US military personnel, all Iranian missiles were intercepted at that time.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House: "We're going to hit them very hard because now it's our turn to hit. They know it's going to happen. They asked us not to do it."
"We'll see if we can reach an agreement at some point. But we're going to hit them very hard," the American president added.
Earlier, on Fox News, he expressed himself more bluntly: "We're going to kick their ass."
Later, Trump suggested that the attack was initiated not by the part of the Iranian leadership with whom the US is trying to negotiate: "This was a different group, not the one we are dealing with. They have already apologized, but, you know, we're going to have to spank them a little bit."