American forces resumed strikes against Iran on Tuesday, according to US Central Command (Centcom). The strikes were reported to follow "recent attempted attacks" by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian Red Crescent reported that four individuals, including a young child, were killed in the US attacks, and over 50 were injured when shrapnel from a US missile struck a home where a wedding celebration was taking place in Sirik, southern Iran.
In retaliation, Iran launched attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Jordan, as reported by local state media and the Jordanian Armed Forces. Attacks were also noted in Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC stated that the US would "regret" the strikes, and by early Wednesday, it had launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at a US Marine base in Jordan's Aqaba in response to the Sirik attack, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The Jordanian Armed Forces reported intercepting 13 ballistic missiles, with 10 destroyed and three falling in remote areas, resulting in no casualties. The national security center in Jordan had warned residents of the Aqaba and Mafraq governorates about falling debris, but that warning has since been lifted.
Separately, the Kuwait army stated that its air defenses were responding to Iranian missile attacks early Wednesday. Several explosions were also reported in Bahrain following the Iranian attacks, according to Iranian state media.
Former President Donald Trump warned that Iran would face further strikes at "a much harder and higher level" if it retaliated after the US strikes were announced on Tuesday afternoon.
These events follow the first known US strikes on Iran since late July, when US forces attacked two rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait. Tehran retaliated by firing missiles at air bases in Jordan and a drone at the UAE.
Centcom indicated that US forces began striking IRGC targets at 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT) and completed the strikes by early Wednesday. Iranian state media reported that a four-year-old child was among the deceased in the Sirik attack, while other reports indicated that projectiles had hit areas including Chabahar, Konarak, and an airport in Jiroft, with explosions heard in Qeshm Island and Bandar Abbas.
US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, representing Centcom, stated that the US military does not target civilians, contrasting its actions with those of the IRGC.
A US-Iran agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, aimed at extending a ceasefire between the two countries was signed in June but has since expired, leading to renewed hostilities. Both the US and Iran have targeted shipping, with Tehran attacking vessels it claims have crossed the Strait without permission, while the US has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Washington also announced a new sanctions campaign on August 24 aimed at further isolating Tehran and expanding secondary sanctions against its allies. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that many US allies expressed their commitment to support the sanctions against Iran during a G20 finance ministers meeting.
Iranian officials and state media have largely dismissed the sanctions campaign as a continuation of previous US economic measures, which they argue followed Washington's military failures in the recent conflict. However, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media on Tuesday as stating that if the US returned to its commitments under the agreement, Iran would reciprocate.