U.S. resident Donald Trump ordered a wave of ‘large and powerful’ U.S. military strikes against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the U.S. embassies to warn Americans in the region to exercise heightened vigilance.
Around a dozen strikes targeted Iranian radar systems and military assets along a 300-mile stretch of the coast of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, the U.S. operations came in retaliation for Iran’s attempt to deploy sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz and missile attacks directed at U.S. military bases in Jordan.
Iranian state media reported strikes on the country’s oil-rich Qeshm Island located.
Explosions were also reported in the southern port cities of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar.
Iran retaliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claiming that it had launched a ballistic missile strike on Camp Titin, a US Marine base in Jordan.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Pentagon.
The latest exchange comes after Iranian strikes over the weekend on US bases in Jordan, with US Central Command stating it is ‘hitting back hard’ against the regime.
Trump also warned Iran against responding to the latest attack: ‘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!’
