US launches new round of attacks on Iran, forces clash at sea

U.S. forces on Wednesday launched a new wave of strikes against multiple targets in Iran, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X, reported Xinhua. The strikes are self-defense measures in response to Iran's unwarranted and continued aggression, CENTCOM said. We will hit them hard on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in, and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters at CENTCOM headquarters in Florida on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions on 13 individuals and entities allegedly linked to the Iranian military. The latest strikes came after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier Wednesday that U.S. forces would continue military action against Iran following attacks launched on Tuesday, after the downing of a U.S. Army helicopter that Washington alleges was carried out by Iran on Monday. Trump also wrote on Truth Social that Iran had taken too long to negotiate a deal and would have to pay the price. Meanwhile, air defence systems were activated in western Tehran, Al Jazeera cited Iranian media as saying, reported ANI. An explosion was also heard in Fars province in southwest Iran, which was attributed to the activation of air defence systems outside the city. According to Press TV, Iraqi media reports claim that Iran has launched a missile strike targeting the US Al-Harir air base in Erbil, allegedly destroying a US radar system in Iraq's Kurdistan region. Meanwhile, clashes erupted early Thursday between Iranian and U.S. forces in the waters of the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, as Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran's main military command, announced the full closure of the Strait of Hormuz, reported Xinhua. Initial reports indicated that U.S. ships near the Strait of Hormuz were targeted by missiles and drones launched by Iranian armed forces. Blasts were also heard in the counties of Sirik and Minab and the port city of Bandar Abbas, all in Hormozgan province, as well as on Qeshm and Hengam islands, while air defense systems were activated west of the capital Tehran and in the southern province of Fars, the semi-official Mehr news agency said. Following the incidents, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the Strait of Hormuz has been closed to all kinds of vessels, including oil tankers and commercial ships, owing to security threats in the waterway. Meanwhile, U.S. forces disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday night, marking the second consecutive day on which U.S. forces struck a vessel not complying with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against all Iranian ports, the U.S. Central Command said Wednesday. A U.S. aircraft fired precision munitions into Palau-flagged M/T Settebello's engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces, the command wrote on X. The tanker was attempting to transport oil from Iran, the command claimed. It added that U.S. forces have disabled eight non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13. Meanwhile, Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military has secretly assisted more than 200 commercial vessels in transiting the Strait of Hormuz since last month. This effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social. Trump argued that the United States, not Iran, controls the strategic waterway. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It's over for Iran! Trump reiterated his claims despite the stalled talks and Iran's exchange of fire with the United States and Israel in recent days. Trump's remarks came amid soaring tensions in the region as he ordered continued strikes on Iran after the downing of a U.S. Army helicopter on Monday. Iran reports water cuts for nearly 20,000 after U.S. strikes, threatens legal action U.S. strikes damaged two water tanks in Iran's southern Hormozgan province early Wednesday, cutting off or disrupting potable water supplies to nearly 20,000 residents, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported. A 2,000-cubic-meter water tank and a 500-cubic-meter one were damaged in Sirik County, Mehr cited Mojtaba Ghahremani, Hormozgan province's chief justice, as saying. Ghahremani described the attack on civilian water facilities as a war crime and said Iran would pursue legal action. Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said it had carried out missile and drone strikes against U.S. bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan early Wednesday. It also confirmed U.S. strikes on the Iranian counties of Jask and Sirik and on Qeshm Island, and acknowledged damage to a communications tower and two water tanks in Sirik.