US strikes Iran in response to surprise ballistic missile launch
US forces launched waves of airstrikes against Iran today, one night after Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on US military positions that were thwarted by air defences, US defence officials said.
US forces launched waves of airstrikes against Iran, one night after Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on US military positions that were thwarted by air defences, U.S. defence officials said.
The strikes began about 10am Thrusday AEST officials with US Central Command, which oversees operations in the region, said in a statement.
“The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces based in the Middle East,” Centcom said.
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“We’re going to smack ‘em a little bit,” Trump said, adding that he would “pretty much” always “hit back” after an adversary does.
Iranian officials said Tuesday that they had targeted a base in Jordan in response to undefined “aggressive actions by the U.S. military.”
The latest exchange of hostilities marked a new interruption in the efforts to reach a ceasefire deal, one that Trump has said Iran wants, to end the war that began five months ago.
To date, 18 American service members have been killed and more than 600 wounded in the conflict.
Four US troops died this month after the fighting with Iran resumed on July 8. Three suffered fatal wounds in a July 17 Iranian ballistic missile strike on a base in Jordan. Another was killed the following day during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone at a base in Iraq.
