US resumes attacks on Iran after Trump's threat

The United States resumed attacks on Iran just hours after President Donald Trump vowed to hit the country "hard" in retaliation for an attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.

U.S. Central Command announced the conclusion of "heavy waves of strikes" via a post on X at midnight. The command described the attack as powerful and a "response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East." It stated that the strikes targeted Iranian assets, including "military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities."

Explosions were heard in several southern Iranian cities, including Bushehr province, Qeshm Island, and the port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province. Two people were reportedly injured. This development marks the end of a five-day period of relative calm between the two nations, during which Trump had suspended a 13-day bombing campaign and Tehran had paused its retaliatory strikes.

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We’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them. They know it’s coming.

President Trump had told reporters on Wednesday, "We're going to be hitting them very hard because it's our turn to hit them. They know it's coming." Iran had launched an attack on Tuesday while Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These Iranian strikes were also seen as a response to joint U.S./Saudi Arabia strikes on Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a move that heightened tensions in a new war front. CENTCOM considered the attack a reprisal for recent Iraqi militias' attacks on American troops and Saudi energy infrastructure, which killed 20 PMF members.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage, describing the Iranian regime as "desperate for cash" amid economic turmoil. His comments followed his office's announcement of new sanctions on Iran, targeting two firms allegedly integral to an IRGC-backed scheme that forces commercial vessels to purchase mandatory maritime insurance to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

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desperate for cash