After signalling that he wanted to avoid a return to a full-scale war with Iran, President Donald Trump found himself pulled back into confrontation as Tehran responded defiantly with a missile attack on US Forces in the Middle East.
Trump had spent the weekend pushing back against the prospect of a wider conflict and looking for a way to wind down the war. But Iran’s decision to strike US bases in Jordan on Tuesday showed that Tehran remained willing to retaliate, challenging Washington’s efforts to contain the escalation.
The US military intercepted the incoming missiles, but the attempted attack forced Trump to respond. The United States launched a new round of strikes against Iran on Wednesday evening, with US Central Command describing the action as a “powerful response” to Iran’s “attempted missile attacks on US forces” in the Middle East.
“We’re going to be hitting them very hard, because it’s our turn to hit them,” Trump told reporters earlier on Wednesday.
CENTCOM said its forces completed a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iran at 10 p.m. ET on July 29, targeting “dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets”.
The targets included “military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and maritime capabilities,” CENTCOM said, adding that the strikes were aimed at “further diminishing threats posed by Iran and its proxies” to US forces, commercial shipping and neighbouring Gulf countries.
On July 28, IRGC forces launched “multiple ballistic missiles” from Iran in what CENTCOM described as an “attempted surprise attack” on US forces based in the Middle East. The command said “all Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.”
More than 50,000 US service members are currently deployed in the Middle East and remain “highly vigilant, focused, lethal and ready,” CENTCOM said.
The strikes, which began late Wednesday in the United States and early Thursday in Iran, were the first direct US attacks on Iran in several days following a period of relative calm and stalled diplomatic efforts.
Explosions were reported in several locations in southern and western Iran, including Bandar Abbas, Kish Island, Qeshm Island and Khuzestan province, Iranian state media reported.
Iranian officials said the strikes killed three people, including a two-year-old child, on Qeshm Island.
Iranian media reported that a residential area in the Chah Tangu neighbourhood of Qeshm was hit.
The latest escalation followed an Iranian missile attack on Tuesday targeting US forces in Jordan and ships in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said all missiles fired in the attack were intercepted.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump used stronger language, saying, “We are going to beat …out of them,” while describing the Iranian action as a “surprise attack.”
The escalation has widened a conflict that has already involved US and Israeli strikes on Iran, as well as attacks by Iran-backed groups in the region.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman met US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday and conveyed a message from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Trump, with Saudi officials urging efforts to reduce tensions, according to people familiar with the matter.
The latest hostilities also affected regional shipping, with traffic through key waterways remaining sharply reduced amid concerns over security in the Gulf region.
Iran and the United States had appeared to be moving towards renewed talks after several days without major strikes, with Trump describing the discussions as “very friendly negotiations.” Tehran, however, denied that formal talks were underway.
The conflict has raised concerns over further instability in the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy shipments.
