US launches missiles at Iran amid escalating tensions

The United States released footage showing the launch of Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting Iran overnight, marking one of the most serious confrontations between the two nations in recent years.

The missile strikes took place under the cover of darkness, beginning at approximately 3:45 am Indian Standard Time, according to the US military. President Donald Trump claimed that 49 Tomahawk missiles had been used to strike multiple targets deep within Iranian territory, News.Az reports, citing India Today.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), describing the operation as "additional self-defence strikes" in response to Iran's "unwarranted and continued aggression." Local media reported that the strikes hit several locations, including western Tehran, Fars Province, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Kish, Minab, and parts of central Isfahan.The escalation of hostilities was further amplified as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that its aerospace force and navy had launched a two-wave operational strike on US forces in the region.

These strikes targeted 18 key installations across bases hosting American troops. The IRGC also declared that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz to “all vessels,” including oil tankers and commercial ships. However, CENTCOM disputed this claim, stating that commercial traffic was still transiting through the waterway despite the recent hostilities. The IRGC’s statement, cited by CNN, emphasized that the Strait was declared closed due to insecurity in the region, but US officials publicly rejected this assertion, confirming that commercial ships continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump stated that “49 Tomahawk missiles were used to strike targets inside Iran, with some as close as 40 miles (64 km) from Tehran.” He added that US fighter jets were operating over Iran, targeting radar and air defense systems in the southwestern part of the country near the Persian Gulf.

Trump also claimed that top Iranian officials had called him and requested the US to halt the bombing. He warned that if Tehran refused to sign a peace deal proposed by US negotiators, American forces would resume bombing “tomorrow night,” using an expletive in his statement.
Iranian officials challenged parts of the US account. Brigadier General Majid Mousavi, commander of Iran’s IRGC Aerospace Force, warned that Iran would respond across the region if the Strait of Hormuz was destabilized, stating, “We will bring the region into hell for you from across Iran if you make the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe.” Iranian media, citing senior officials, also claimed that Trump’s assertion of having directly communicated with Iranian officials was false, and that no such contact had taken place.
This latest exchange of military actions and conflicting statements has heightened tensions, with new US strikes inside Iran, Iran’s claims of retaliatory attacks on American bases, a contested announcement regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and contradictory accounts from Washington and Tehran over both military operations and potential diplomatic contact.
The situation remains extremely volatile, with regional and international implications as the confrontation continues to escalate.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova