US forces launched strikes on Tuesday against Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in response to attempted attacks on commercial shipping and American forces, the US military said.
The strikes -- which began at 12:00 pm (1600 GMT) -- came after "recent attempted attacks by (the Guards) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region," US Central Command said on X.
Iranian state media said on Tuesday that four projectiles hit parts of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, east of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Four projectiles had hit areas within the counties of Chabahar and Konarak," said the official IRNA news agency, citing provincial official Ali Khalilabadi, without specifying whether there was any damage.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warned Iran not to retaliate against the latest US strikes, saying Tehran faced "much harder and higher" attacks if it hits back.
Trump said Tuesday's US attacks near the Strait of Hormuz were in response to Iran laying mines and shooting missiles at an American base in Jordan.
"If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Responding to Trump, the IRGC vowed on Tuesday to make the United States "regret" fresh attacks around the Strait of Hormuz.
"Severe punishment awaits the aggressors; the United States will regret its new attacks," said Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi in a post on X, after explosions were heard in multiple areas along and east of Hormuz.
On Sunday, the US military said it struck rocket launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles at US sites in Jordan, which were intercepted, while United Arab Emirates said it stopped an Iranian drone over its waters.
US President Donald Trump acknowledged Monday that more strikes might be necessary.
Trump asserted that the US and Israeli bombardment has left Iran "a failed nation." He said that much of its political leadership has been killed, Iran's economy is staggered by surging inflation and its military devastated.
Still, Trump acknowledged that more strikes might be necessary.
"That doesn't mean we won't smack them," Trump told reporters. "We'll see what happens."
The US and Iran have been engaged in an intermittent war for more than six months, with the recent lull in fighting lasting a month. A return to open conflict would be dangerous for the region, where Iran has targeted US military bases and infrastructure in Gulf countries since the war began.
Iranian state TV reported the sound of explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas but did not provide details.
The renewed fighting also comes after Trump appeared to pivot last month toward punishing Iran economically with sanctions, with the president promising an "economic D-Day" against a country that has withstood nearly five decades of punishing American sanctions.
The Trump administration argued that it was only a matter of time and that striking the right economic target would get Tehran to its breaking point. But at the same time, US stockpiles of advanced weapons have been diminishing, while the war has been unpopular among Americans and could make Republicans vulnerable in November's midterm elections.
The US military has tried to cast the renewed fighting as limited. Central Command said in a statement on X on Monday that its attacks on Iranian targets on Sunday were narrowly focused on preventing IRGC forces from placing new mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
"US forces took limited, precise action against IRGC minelaying forces posing an imminent threat in the Strait of Hormuz," Central Command stated. "In essence, Iran created the threat and the US military eliminated it to protect civilian mariners, commercial shipping, and the free flow of global commerce."
Central Command reiterated on Tuesday that its attacks only followed Iranian aggression against commercial vessels and American troops in the region.
(With inputs from AP and AFP)
