The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced this Monday a new wave of bombings against Iranian territory, for the third consecutive night, after President Donald Trump anticipated that Washington would strike “very hard” at Tehran.
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“At 00:15 on Tuesday in Iran (16:45 on Monday in Chile), the United States Central Command began launching, for the third consecutive night, attacks against Iran by order of the commander-in-chief. These attacks will continue to impose a high cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial maritime transport in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM reported in a brief statement.
The announcement came shortly after Trump stated, in an interview with the conservative channel Salem News Channel, that the United States would intensify its offensive.
“We are going to hit them very hard tonight and we are going to hit them hard tomorrow and there is not a damn thing they can do about it. They have nothing. They can do nothing but be loudmouths. I have met them and they are totally crazy”, said the U.S. president.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Armed Forces claimed to have launched drones and missiles against strategic U.S. targets in Kuwait and claimed a cruise missile attack against a “U.S. enemy ship”.
For its part, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard reported that its air defense systems shot down a U.S. MQ-1 drone in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the main routes for global oil transport.
The new offensive and the Iranian response deepen the military escalation between the two countries, while tension increases around the Strait of Hormuz, a key area for international energy trade.