US Launches Fresh Strikes on Iran as Tehran Reports Civilian Deaths

The United States launched fresh strikes on Iranian targets on Tuesday in response to recent IRGC actions in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iranian retaliatory missile and drone attacks on US positions that included a strike on a base in Jordan.

US Resumes Strikes on Iranian Targets

US Central Command stated the strikes targeted IRGC assets following attempted attacks on commercial shipping and US service members; they began at 12:00 ET. [3] US Central Command announced on social media that the attacks were in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s recent attempted attacks on commercial ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region. [5] President Trump described the US strikes as large and powerful, warned of much harder follow-up attacks if Iran retaliated, and stated a larger-scale option remained available that could leave little of the Islamic Republic. [3] Trump said Tuesday's "large and powerful" strikes were a response to Iran's targeting of a US military base in Jordan, adding the country had "failed" at adding sea mines to the Strait. [3] He wrote on his Truth Social platform that the strikes were in retaliation for the Iranians’ failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait, which currently has no mines. [5] Trump warned that if the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level. [5] He added that a much larger-scale attack was waiting in the wings and that if it passes, little of the Islamic Republic of Iran will remain. [3]

Iranian Reports of Civilian Casualties

Iranian missiles target US positions in retaliatory strike following American attacks on Iranian targets. — Source: anadolu Iranian state media reported explosions in areas including Sirik, Chabahar, Konarak, Jiroft, Qeshm island and Bandar Abbas, with four civilians including a four-year-old child killed and over 50 injured when shrapnel struck a wedding party in Sirik. [3] Iranian state media reported a four-year-old child was among the four who had died in the Sirik attack, while other reports said projectiles had hit the areas of Chabahar and Konarak and an airport in Jiroft, and that explosions were heard in Qeshm island and Bandar Abbas. [3] Iranian state media reported explosions in several regions of the country, including the island of Qeshm and the city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz as well as further east the area of Konarak and the port city of Chabahar. [4] Iranian state media also reported explosions from the island of Lavan in the Persian Gulf. [4] The Iranian Red Crescent said four people including a young child were killed, and more than 50 injured, when after a US missile attack shrapnel hit a home where a wedding celebration was taking place in Sirik in southern Iran. [3] Media reports stated that four people died in an attack on a wedding celebration in the Sirik area, including a four-year-old child, and more than 50 were injured, according to the state Iranian broadcaster citing rescue team staff. [4] US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, speaking on behalf of Centcom, told the BBC it was aware of reports from Iranian state media of the attack in Sirik and added that the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC. [3]

Iranian Retaliation Against US Positions

The IRGC announced retaliatory ballistic missile and drone strikes on US positions, including a Marine base in Jordan's Aqaba where debris warnings were issued but no deaths or injuries occurred. [3] The IRGC said the US would regret the strikes, and Iranian news agencies reported that retaliatory missile and drone attacks on US targets had begun. [3] The IRGC was reported as saying it had launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at a US Marine base in Jordan's Aqaba in retaliation for the Sirik attack. [3] The Jordanian Armed Forces said there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the attack from Iran, according to the country's state-affiliated Al-Mamlaka network. [3] The network also said that the country's national security centre had warned residents of the Aqaba and Mafraq governates of falling debris, adding that the warning had since ended. [3] Iranian media reported that Iran launched missiles and drones at enemy positions. [2] Several state media outlets reported that the targets of the attacks were again US bases in Jordan, and that a US base in Bahrain was also attacked. [4]

Context of Expired Ceasefire and Prior Hostilities

The action marks renewed escalation after a June US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding ceasefire expired, following earlier February strikes and responses that included Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz. [3] The US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February, with Iran responding by attacking Israel, US bases and allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic. [3] A US-Iran agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, to extend a ceasefire between the two countries was signed in June, but that agreement has expired, leading to a resumption of hostilities. [3] Both the US and Iran have also fired on shipping, with Tehran targeting vessels it says have sought to cross the Strait without its permission and the US enforcing a naval blockade of Iranian ports. [3] Washington also announced a fresh sanctions campaign on 24 August aimed at further isolating Tehran and expanding secondary sanctions against its allies. [3] In the night to Monday the Iran war escalated militarily for the first time in about a month with mutual attacks, as the US military attacked units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that wanted to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran then fired missiles at US military bases in Jordan that were intercepted according to Jordanian statements. [4]

Market Reactions to Renewed Conflict

Global markets reacted with rising oil prices, falling stocks, spiking bond yields including Japan's 10-year at 3 percent, and Eurozone inflation hitting a three-year high driven by energy costs. [1] Oil prices rose, stocks fell and bond yields spiked after the US launched fresh attacks on Iranian targets. [1] Japan's 10-year bond yield hit 3% for the first time since 1996. [1] The deepening global selloff comes amid fears over rising inflation and concern over mounting government debt, which in the US has risen above 40 trillion dollars. [1] Meanwhile, in the single-currency Eurozone, inflation rose to the highest level in three years in August, driven by higher energy prices. [1] Crude oil futures, already elevated after renewed US attacks late last month, rose to around US$90 in midafternoon trading Tuesday, a 4.8 per cent increase. [5] The price for a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea climbed temporarily to the highest level in about two and a half months at 95.44 dollars. [4]

Statements on Diplomacy and Future Risks

Trump said the agreement with Iran is not worth the paper it is written on and that the United States had given them many chances. [4] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a G20 ministerial meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, that the agreement had not worked because Iran had not been ready for an agreement. [4] Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media as saying if the US returned to committing to the agreement, Iran would reciprocate. [3] Iranian officials and state media have largely dismissed the recent sanctions campaign as a continuation of previous US economic measures, which they argue followed Washington's military failure in the recent conflict. [3]

What to watch next: Iranian state media and the IRGC have stated that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will be tightened by the US attacks, while Trump has indicated a much larger-scale attack remains available if further retaliation occurs.