US launches fresh strikes on Iran as Trump warns Tehran to behave
U.S. forces conducted air strikes on Iranian military targets and disabled a vessel breaching a naval blockade, prompting retaliatory strikes from Iran.
The United States said it had launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday as President Donald Trump warned Tehran it "better behave". Asked by reporters late on Wednesday whether he would give a deadline before doing so, he responded: "I don't like giving deadlines, but they pretty much know, they know the story... they better behave."
A 90-minute wave targeted Iran's coastal defences and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island, US Central Command (Centcom) added. Its statement said the US had hit Iranian "command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities", including in Bandar Abbas, an Iranian city on the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom also said it had redirected two commercial vessels since reimposing its blockade on Iranian ports on Tuesday evening, which stops vessels from transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas.
Media additions
IRGC said that it carried out a combined missile and drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait. In a statement carried by the IRIB broadcaster, the IRGC said it targeted a C-RAM early-warning radar and a gathering point for US soldiers during the eighth wave of its “Nasr 2” operation. The Iranian army also said it targeted US military communication systems and fuel storage tanks at the Azraq base in Jordan, state media reported. In a post on X, IRGC spokesperson General Mohammadi also warned that Washington should not assume it could sustain the current pattern of fighting or turn the conflict into a prolonged war of attrition.
Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state media Tehran had "no reason" to abide by the deal if it did not benefit from it. Ghalibaf, however, said Iran's national security depended on Tehran maintaining "Iranian arrangements" in the strait. He added that negotiation - along with war - was part of Iran's strategy of resistance as it engaged an "existential" conflict with the US. Ongoing US-Iran hostilities have underscored the strategic importance of the Strait to the global economy, with a sharp rise in oil prices triggered by tanker traffic virtually stalling through the key shipping lane. In response to the renewal of the US blockade, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned the US that it should "expect the closure of other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies".
Bahrain's interior ministry said air raid sirens were activated across the country, urging residents to remain alert and follow official safety instructions. Kuwait's armed forces said they intercepted four cruise missiles and 21 drones launched by Iran on Wednesday. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced deep concern over the escalating confrontation between the US and Iran, warning that a return to full-scale hostilities would exact an "intolerable toll" on civilians.
Having choked off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is now signaling it could play its most dangerous card yet: using Yemen's Houthi allies to shut the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea, opening a new front against Washington and putting two of the world's most vital energy arteries at risk. Iran's health ministry said at least 35 people have been killed and more than 300 injured since the latest round of US strikes began. Iranian state media said patients and families at Ahvaz's Shahid Baghaei Hospital, which specialises in treating children with cancer, were temporarily evacuated after a US projectile landed nearby.
Despite the renewed fighting, Trump welcomed what he saw as a potential olive branch from Tehran in freeing an American detainee that the US president said had been "wrongfully detained" in December 2024. "She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition," Trump wrote on Wednesday evening on his Truth Social social media platform. "The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!" Speaking at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Trump said his administration had already made a record investment in the US military. The US State Department has approved a potential $1.96 billion sale of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) and related equipment to Saudi Arabia.
