US military carries out new strikes on Iranian targets as hostilities flare
US President Donald Trump launched new air strikes on Iran on Tuesday, the latest chapter as the president has swung in recent weeks between economic and military pressure tactics, all the while claiming that Tehran was on its heels.
US Military Central Command announced on social media that the attacks were in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s recent attempted attacks on commercial ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.
“The strikes are large and powerful, and in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level.”
Crude oil futures, already elevated after renewed US attacks late last month, rose to around US$90 in midafternoon trading Tuesday, a 4.8 per cent increase just weeks ahead of the US midterm election where affordability has been a central theme.
The Pentagon did not detail what targets were hit, nor was it immediately clear how extensive the attacks were.