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U.S. President Donald Trump ordered more strikes against Iranian regime sites on Monday in response to the Islamic Republic’s attacks on civilian-manned commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command said it completed the “latest wave of strikes against Iran” at 10:15 p.m. Eastern on Monday, five and a half hours after the operation began at 4:45 p.m.
CENTCOM struck military targets across Iran, including in Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas, according to the statement. The attacks targeted coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities.
“More than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently deployed across the Middle East. American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” CENTCOM stated.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded to the latest U.S. strikes by attacking Bahrain, Jordan and three tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, it said.
Two of the vessels, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, which were linked to the United Arab Emirates, briefly caught fire, the Associated Press reported. The Emirati Defense Ministry said the attacks killed one mariner and wounded eight others.
Bahrain’s Defence Force said its air defenses intercepted “a number of treacherous Iranian aerial attacks,” adding that “the deliberate use of missiles and drones to target civilians and private property constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.”
A Jordanian military source told the state-run Petra News Agency that the army “successfully intercepted and shot down four missiles that breached Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory early Tuesday.”
No injuries were reported in the attacks on Bahrain or Jordan.
Trump told Hugh Hewitt on Monday that Pickaxe Mountain, an underground nuclear facility in Iran, remained “a possible target for a nice, big, fat shot right in the front door.”
“I think that you’ll, maybe you’ll see that. I’ll tell them right now. Look, the fact is they have no air force. They have no navy. They have no nothing. All they do is talk, and they have fake press,” the president said. “We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready.”
“There’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Trump told Fox News that the United States will be “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz.
In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump declared the strait open and that, from “this point forward,” the United States will be known as “the guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”
He said that America is reimposing the Iranian blockade, “so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
However, Washington will charge 20% on all cargo shipped, plus “costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Trump added.
CENTCOM said the blockade on all “maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports” would go into effect on 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
“The resumption of the U.S. blockade against Iran follows the initial implementation from April 13 to June 18. CENTCOM forces redirected more than 140 compliant vessels, disabled nine non-compliant ships, and allowed over 50 commercial vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass through the blockade during the two-month period,” it added.
The U.S. military has carried out four rounds of strikes against Iran in response to the Islamic Republic’s renewed attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz on July 7.
Trump told the Salem News Channel on Monday that the June 17 Memorandum of Understanding with Tehran “was sort of a test, and they weren’t there.”
“It was a test. We didn’t know. Look, memorandums of understanding when you’re dealing with sleaze bags don’t mean much,” he added.
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