American forces carried out an 11th consecutive night of strikes against Iran on Tuesday, targeting military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage sites and logistics infrastructure, U.S. Central Command said.
The strikes were intended to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” according to CENTCOM.
The military said Iran has attacked more than 30 commercial vessels transiting the strategic waterway over the past three months, endangering “hundreds of innocent mariners” and undermining freedom of navigation.
“Despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open for commercial vessel transit,” CENTCOM said, adding that U.S. forces have helped facilitate the transit of some 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil through the strategic shipping lane since early May.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he would “soon” order an attack on Pickaxe Mountain, an underground Iranian site suspected to be used for nuclear activity.
“We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” Trump said, speaking during a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
“There’s not a thing they can do about it. You know, normally I wouldn’t say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that,” he added.
Trump said the U.S. believes the Islamic regime “may have” stored centrifuges at the facility but added, “We don’t have it on record.” Even if Iran did, he said, “it doesn’t mean anything unless they have the [nuclear] material.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into tunnels deep inside Pickaxe Mountain last fall, a relocation Israeli and U.S. officials say could allow Tehran to reconstitute its nuclear program despite heavy American and Israeli strikes on three main nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025.
