US launches ‘heavy strikes’ on Iran as it vows to ‘punish the aggressor today’

The US military completed a “heavy wave of strikes” against Iran, US Central Command announced on Wednesday night. This wave of attacks was in response to Iran’s attempted attack on US forces yesterday.

“CENTCOM assets struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities,” CENTCOM said on X. CENTCOM did not provide additional details on the number of targets it struck.

Following the attacks, Iran vowed to “punish” the United States on Thursday. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran hard after its attack on an American base in Jordan. And the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) signaled the flare-up would not end there, warning early Thursday that “the aggressor will be punished today” following the U.S. strikes.

The renewed fighting shattered a brief period of calm that had seen the two sides engage with a push to revive diplomatic efforts and stave off dramatic new escalation. The United States and Iran each fired barrages of missiles, as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for a quick end to the five-month conflict.