President Trump vows that strikes will broaden if Iran does not stop its attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. forces conducted strikes against Iran on Wednesday for the 12th consecutive day, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Central Command said it struck multiple Iranian military targets, including “maritime capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air defense assets.”
“The strikes further degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
CENTCOM also said Wednesday night that it had redirected nine commercial ships and disabled one since resuming a blockade of Iranian ports last week.
President Donald Trump vowed earlier in the day that U.S. strikes would broaden if Iran did not stop its attacks on ships in the strait.
“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran,“ Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
The strikes continued a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators that the cost of the Iran war has risen to $37.5 billion, while making the Pentagon’s case for supplemental funding. The reignited conflict has stretched into its fifth month.
Earlier Wednesday, the remains of four U.S. soldiers killed in action last week in the Middle East arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they were honored with a dignified transfer.
The Pentagon announced Monday the identities of two active-duty Army soldiers killed in Jordan last week. First Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were serving at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base when it came under Iranian attack.
On Tuesday evening, Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, N.Y., was announced as the third soldier killed in the attack.
The Pentagon identified another fallen soldier Tuesday. Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, N.C., was killed during a controlled detonation of a downed drone in Iraq while supporting overseas contingency operations. His death is under investigation.
The soldiers’ deaths mark the first U.S. troops killed in action since March, raising the number of American service members killed in the war with Iran to 18. About 447 troops have been injured in the conflict, which began on Feb. 28 and has escalated in recent weeks as a June ceasefire fell apart.
The U.S. and Iran began trading strikes this month after both accused the other of violating the ceasefire. Iran has resumed targeting oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. Navy reinstated its blockade of Iranian ports.
An interim peace deal reached last month has repeatedly been tested by attacks. Talks to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halt Tehran’s nuclear program and reach a permanent end to the war that started Feb. 28 are on hold.
- Security