The US military carried out a fresh 90-minute wave of strikes against Iranian coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island on Wednesday, US Central Command said, extending an air campaign into a fifth consecutive day aimed at protecting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM said fighter aircraft, drones and naval vessels struck coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch facilities, further degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten commercial vessels transiting the strait. The strike came hours after a separate seven-hour wave of attacks overnight, which the command said hit dozens of Iranian missile and drone sites, naval assets and coastal defense systems near Hormuz and along Iran’s coast.
Combined, the two rounds of strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday hit roughly 170 targets, according to CENTCOM, part of a broader campaign that has now hit hundreds of targets since fighting resumed last week. The renewed strikes coincided with the reinstatement of a US naval blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports, which took effect Tuesday afternoon, backed by more than 20 Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft in the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it retaliated with missile and drone strikes on US-linked military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, describing the action as the third wave of what it calls “Operation Nasr 2,” and warned of further reprisals as long as US operations continue. Iran’s regular army separately claimed drone strikes on a base in Jordan. Kuwaiti defense officials said they intercepted one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones overnight.
Iranian state media reported explosions in Shiraz on Wednesday, though details remained unclear. The exchange followed a week of escalating strikes that began after Iran targeted commercial vessels in the strait, prompting Washington to abandon the ceasefire reached under last month’s memorandum of understanding. CENTCOM says its immediate objective remains keeping the strait open to commercial shipping, while Iran has warned that continued US strikes could lead to broader disruption of regional energy exports.
