U.S. launches fresh wave of attacks on Iran after Trump threatens wider strikes

The U.S. military said daytime attacks were underway early Wednesday after seven hours of overnight strikes. President Trump had also said he might “knock out” Iran's power plants and bridges next week.

By Rachel Chason

U.S. forces said Wednesday they had begun launching a fresh wave of strikes against Iran, following overnight strikes that U.S. Central Command said hit “dozens of military targets.”

The announcements came hours after President Donald Trump warned that he would hit Iran “very hard” until negotiators return to the table. Centcom said the strikes Wednesday morning are intended to “degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump also threatened during an interview Tuesday with Fox News to “knock out all their power plants” and “all their bridges” next week — echoing ultimatums that Trump made against Iran months ago, which legal experts said could violate international law.

The president’s threats underscored his rising frustration over the collapse of a preliminary truce agreement and Tehran’s refusal so far to bow to American military or political pressure.

On Tuesday, Trump backed off of a threat to impose a “reimbursement fee” on ships transiting the strait, a narrow waterway that is vital to global commerce. Iran, too, has claimed the right to impose a toll on cargo vessels — a claim Trump has rejected.

He said the U.S. would proceed with a blockade of ships coming to and from Iranian ports or carrying Iranian cargo, which he had announced Monday.

The seemingly inconsistent, even erratic, messaging from the White House has contributed to global uncertainty and worry that the economically damaging war will continue indefinitely, with no clear pathway to end the fighting.

A memorandum of understanding intended to wind down the war, signed last month, has collapsed, and the U.S. and Iran appear to have highly contradictory interpretations its loosely written terms.

The key point of contention, analysts say, remains control of the strait, which was open to maritime traffic before the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in late February.

Oil prices, which have spiked in recent days, were slightly up on Wednesday at more than $85 a barrel.

The seven-hour wave of overnight U.S. strikes hit “Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities and coastal defense systems,” Centcom said.

Centcom chief Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement that U.S. forces were “holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression” that has endangered civilian lives, including attacks on seven commercial ships in the past week, resulting in the deaths of nearly a dozen crew members, and a wave of strikes against Gulf nations.

Iran, meanwhile, said that it had launched attacks against U.S. targets in Gulf nations, including Kuwait and Bahrain, and in Jordan, where it said it struck “major U.S. military storage facilities” at Al-Azraq base.