US launches new strikes on Iran near Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas

US Central Command announced early Sunday that American forces had launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against Iran, targeting sites near Qeshm Island and the port city of Bandar Abbas hours after Iranian ballistic missiles and drones killed American troops in Jordan.

Explosions rock Iran's southern coast

Residents in parts of Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island reported hearing powerful explosions shortly before 4 a.m. local time, the state-run IRNA news agency said. The Mehr News outlet later confirmed that a site near Qeshm was struck at approximately 3:40 a.m., describing the incident as a US military attack that caused no civilian casualties or damage to residential infrastructure.

CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X that the operation commenced at the Commander in Chief’s direction. "Today at 6 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began launching new airstrikes against Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction. The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night," it said.

Deadly prelude in Jordan

The aerial bombardment followed a devastating Iranian assault on an American installation in Jordan on Friday evening. CENTCOM confirmed Saturday that ballistic missiles and drones launched by Tehran had killed multiple US service members, with one additional personnel listed as missing following the strike.

The Pentagon has not released specific casualty figures, though officials acknowledged the Jordan attack represented a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Washington and Tehran. The retaliatory strikes near Qeshm began at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, CENTCOM noted, as investigators continued to assess the precise impact points of the ordnance.