U.S. President Donald Trump ordered additional strikes on Iran on Wednesday, according to U.S. Central Command.
CENTCOM stated that its forces “began launching additional self-defense strikes today at 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time against multiple targets in Iran at the commander in chief’s direction.”
“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” the command stated.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters outside CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday that the command has “used the ceasefire wisely and with great efficiency to ensure that we’re refining our intelligence and target sets in a way that are far beyond even the beginning of Epic Fury.”
“Central Command will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard—and we will be,” he said.
“They’ve been ‘tap, tap, tapping’ on the deal,” Hegseth said. “Instead, they’re gonna have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.”
“Those strikes that will happen tonight will be strong—they will be clear. If they have to happen tomorrow night, they will be strong and they will be clear,” he said. “Throughout, Iran has an opportunity to make a deal.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, said the strikes highlight “the erosion of the Islamic Republic’s deterrence.”
“Even its attempted closure of the Strait of Hormuz has not fully deterred outside powers from military action,” he said.
The United States renewed strikes on Iran earlier in the day, hours after Iran reportedly struck Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Trump told reporters at the White House that “we’re going to hit them hard again today.”
