Cargo vessels are seen in July at one end of the Strait of Hormuz near the coast of Dibba Al Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The U.S. military launched new attacks Tuesday on Iran as part of a string of hostilities started when the United States accused Iran of trying to place sea mines in the strait. Photo by stringer/EPA
Sept. 1 (UPI) — The U.S. military launched new strikes Tuesday on Iran, attacks that President Donald Trump said were in further retaliation for Iran’s recent actions.
The military began striking “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets” in Iran, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post. “The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”
U.S. Central Command said Sunday that it took “limited” action against Iranian forces on Larak Island who were allegedly planting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump posted on social media Tuesday, saying U.S. strikes were “large and powerful” and threatening more attacks against Iran.
He also said the strikes Tuesday were in retaliation for “the Iranian’s failed attempt at adding sea mines to the strait” and shooting missiles unsuccessfully at a U.S. base in Jordan.
“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!” Trump wrote.
Iranian state media said four projectiles hit Tuesday east of the Strait of Hormuz. CNN reported that Iran’s Armed Forces Central Headquarters said in response that Iran would “deliver crushing and devastating blows” against the “American enemy.”
“The more the U.S. military persists in its aggression in the region, the greater and heavier the losses it will have to endure,” it said.
Oil futures, meanwhile, jumped above $94 a barrel Tuesday after the United States announced the new strikes.
Trump also said Monday that Iran’s military had been nearly destroyed, CNN reported.
“Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House. “Their surveillance equipment is almost entirely gone. That doesn’t mean we won’t smack ’em. We’ll see what happens.”
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