US forces strike Iran for 2nd straight day

Washington: US forces conducted strikes against Iran for a second straight day to “degrade” Iran’s ability “to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the United States Central Command has announced.

The United States is “holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” the command said in a post on X on Wednesday (Washington time).

More than 20 US Navy warships were patrolling waters across the Middle East on Wednesday, the command said in an earlier post.

The move came after US President Donald Trump warned at the NATO summit in Ankara earlier the same day that the US military would probably hit Iran again, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I’ll give a little warning: We’re going to hit them hard tonight,” Trump said, adding that he did not expect a full-fledged conflict with Iran.

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Following Trump’s remarks at the summit, Iran’s Press TV, citing an informed source, reported that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz and strike twice as many targets given any fresh US attack.

The developments came as the United States and Iran traded fresh attacks from Tuesday night into Wednesday, marking a new round of escalation.

Meanwhile, several blasts were heard Wednesday night in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province as the US Central Command said its forces conducted strikes against Iran for a second straight day.

The explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, Sirik counties and the Iranian Island of Abu Musa, Iranian media said.

State-run IRIB news agency reported three explosions were also heard in the southeastern Chabahar County, putting at eight the total number of blasts in Bandar Abbas, where the air defence has become activated.