WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: US forces struck Iran on Tuesday and President Donald Trump vowed a “much harder” response to any counterattacks, as exchanges of fire between the two sides threatened to reignite their smoldering conflict.
Washington hit Iranian targets on Sunday in its first known strikes in several weeks, after which Tehran’s forces targeted US troops in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, and projectiles struck two oil tankers in unclaimed attacks.
More US strikes came on Tuesday, with Iranian state television reporting that explosions were heard in the country’s south along the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway and on an island in the Gulf, and that US forces hit an airport in the southern province of Kerman.
The official IRNA news agency said that “four projectiles hit areas within the counties of Chabahar and Konarak,” without specifying whether there was any damage.
Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi warned on X that Washington “will regret its new attacks,” saying that “severe punishment awaits the aggressors.”
Iran’s Tasnim news agency later said a “decisive operation by Iran’s armed forces in response to the US enemy has begun,” and that “US bases and interests in the region are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.”
The Iranian Red Crescent said that four people including a child were killed and over 50 people were wounded by a US attack while attending a wedding in the south. “Following a US missile attack, shrapnel hit a residential home in the city of Kuhestak, in Sirik county of Hormozgan province, where a wedding celebration was taking place,” the Red Crescent said in a post on X. “More than 50 people were injured and four people, including a young child, were martyred.”
The US military said strikes launched against Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in response to attempted attacks on commercial shipping and American forces.
The strikes—which began at 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) -- came after “recent attempted attacks by (the Guards) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region,” US Central Command said on X.
After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the strategic Strait of Hormuz closed and the United States persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. On Sunday, the United States carried out its first known strikes on Iran in several weeks, hitting an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran quickly retaliated by attacking US military targets in the Middle East.
Washington said its forces attacked Iranian rocket launchers on the island of Larak to prevent Tehran planting mines in the key shipping lane.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks aimed at Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, saying they targeted US forces there.
President Trump warned Iran on Tuesday not to retaliate against the latest US strikes, saying Tehran faced “much harder and higher” attacks if it hits back.
Trump said Tuesday’s US attacks near the Strait of Hormuz were in response to Iran laying mines and shooting missiles at an American 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 said on his Truth Social network.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday vowed to match any US move to return to a June deal aimed at ending their war, warning that diplomatic efforts could be endangered by “pressure and threats” from Washington.
He also thanked Russian leader Vladimir Putin for Moscow’s stance on the conflict, in comments during an international summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.
Putin and Pezeshkian held talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, attended by over a dozen leaders including China’s Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pezeshkian told the summit that if the United States returns to the deal aimed at ending months of hostilities, Iran “will immediately take reciprocal action”, according to the Iranian presidency’s website.
The deal, meant to set the stage for final peace talks, has collapsed as both sides accused each other of violating its terms. Pezeshkian warned Tuesday that a return by the United States to “a policy of pressure and threats could derail the path of diplomacy”.
He later met Putin, telling him: “We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage.” He added: “This shows that our relationship is a strategic relationship; it is not an ordinary relationship.”
Putin said that Russia was “trying to provide you with the assistance you need”.
“We admire your courage and resilience in the fight for your national interests,” the Russian leader said, according to Russian media. “Despite the military and political situation, we are maintaining the momentum of our trade and economic relations from last year,” he added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference in Tehran that Washington was “addicted to making excessive demands and has mistaken negotiations for dictating terms”.
“As long as they act in this manner, they will certainly get no result other than what they have achieved so far,” he added, warning that Tehran would “use all our capabilities, whether on the battlefield or through our diplomatic apparatus”.
President Trump told Fox News in an interview on Tuesday that he had given Iran a lot of chances and dismissed the value of any deal with Tehran. “I think an agreement with them isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. We gave them a lot of chances,” Fox News quoted him as saying.
Mediator Qatar on Tuesday urged the United States and Iran to return to negotiations after they renewed tit-for-tat attacks. “We have said from day one that leaving the issue unresolved and trying to normalise the closure of the Strait would lead to escalation,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a regular press briefing.
“This is precisely what we have witnessed over the past two days,” he said.
“We urge the parties to exercise wisdom and return to the negotiating path, and we continue to intensify our efforts with our mediation partners to ensure a return to that path.”
“In Qatar, in the region, in the world today, we cannot afford to accept the status quo,” Al Ansari said. “Discussions with our mediation partners—whether in Pakistan or Oman—are ongoing,” he added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Egypt on Tuesday on a rare trip to the Middle East as both countries face the threat of US sanctions over financial links to Iran. Xi and his wife were greeted on the tarmac by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the first lady, as well as a performance by an Egyptian folk dance troupe. The two-day visit comes as both countries seek to manage the fallout of the months-long Middle East war, which began when the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, throwing the crucial trade region into crisis.
Washington vowed last month to destabilise Iran economically, warning of expanded sanctions against Tehran’s backers and partners that could hit Egyptian and Chinese banks, among others.
A top Iranian official called on citizens to curb their petrol consumption on Tuesday, as the country faces difficulty importing enough fuel to meet demand due to a US naval blockade.
“Of course, part of the responsibility for this high consumption does not lie with our people; it lies with our industry,” parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address. “But in any case, what is clear is that we need to save gasoline in our consumption.”
“Unknown projectiles” struck two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, a Greek security firm said Tuesday, following a fresh flare-up in the US-Iran war. “Two crude oil tankers were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on August 31,” Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday the United States is likely to announce sanctions on a bank this week as part of its economic campaign against Iran.
Oman’s Sultan and Saudi Crown Prince exchanged solutions aimed at achieving peace in the region, Oman’s State TV reported.
Two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other while transiting outbound through the Strait of Hormuz late on Monday, according to shipping intelligence and tracking firms Marisks and Kpler. “The near-simultaneous incidents represent a further escalation in the threat environment within the Omani corridor,” Marisks said.
Iran has sufficient foreign currency reserves despite US sanctions, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Tuesday, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tehran was lashing out because it was losing the economic war.
Oil prices jumped more than $4 a barrel on Tuesday, settling at a five-week high, as traders feared more supply disruptions from the Middle East due to renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Brent futures LCOc1 rose $4.16, or 4.6 per cent, to settle at $94.65 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 rose $4.46, or 5.2 per cent, to settle at $90.22. That was the highest close for Brent since July 24 and for WTI since July 23.
Alarm sirens have been activated in Jordan’s Mafraq and Aqaba governorates, state TV reported on Tuesday, as Iran launched attacks against U.S. interests and bases in the region in retaliation to its strikes on Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed late Tuesday that they “killed a large number of US forces” in an attack, said a statement, Reuters reported. IRGC said it targeted US base in Jordan with ballistic missiles.
However, two US officials told Reuters no US casualties have been reported so far from Iranian attack on facilities in Jordan.
Jordan air defences intercepted 10 of 13 ballistic missiles that entered kingdom’s airspace, military said, adding that three ballistic missiles fell in remote areas away from population centers.
