US Launches Direct Strikes on Iran
The United States launched a wave of direct strikes on Iranian soil overnight, a sharp escalation from the attacks on Iran-aligned militias in Iraq the day before. Central Command said it had hit “dozens” of Revolutionary Guard targets — command centres, missile and drone sites and coastal defences — across southern Iran, including Qeshm Island, Bushehr and the oil-producing province of Khuzestan. An Iranian couple and their two-year-old child were reported killed when a residential building on Qeshm was hit.
The strikes mark the first time American forces have hit Iranian territory directly since the war began, crossing a threshold that had held even as the fighting escalated. They followed Iran’s missile barrage on US forces in Jordan and President Trump’s vow to retaliate “hard”. The scale of the damage and the target list are Central Command’s account and could not be independently verified, while Tehran promised a response. Oil held near $90 a barrel as the confrontation deepened. Watch for Iran’s retaliation and whether the Strait of Hormuz is closed outright.