Iran pummelled by new US strikes as Trump renews threat first issued in April

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced this morning Washington was launching a new wave of strikes against Iran. Taking to X, the official account of the US Central Command wrote: “At 6am ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching a wave of strikes against Iran.

The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.” This comes just hours after Donald Trump issued another chilling threat to Tehran – three months after he vowed to bring a “whole civilisation” to an end. Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday evening, the US President once again threatened Iran to strike its bridges and power plants if the country does not return to talks.

He told Fox News: “Next week comes the bridges. We are going to knock out all their power plants. We will knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”

Meanwhile, Tehran reportedly launched missiles and drones targeting US military positions in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster, IRIB.

The comment come as the two countries exchanged fire for the fourth day in a row. In April this year, the US President had threatened to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges and power plants.

In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Earlier, Trump withdrew his proposed plan to impose a 20% fee on all cargo shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz. However, he later intensified pressure on Iran by reinstating a blockade of Iranian ports, disrupting the country’s maritime trade activities.

However, on Monday, he said that the US was now the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to impose a 20% charge on all cargo shipped through the waterway to pay for protecting it.

Escalating tensions further, he announced that the United States would reinstate its naval blockade on Iran, aiming to increase economic pressure on the country and deepen the strain on its already fragile economy.

In his latest post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.

“Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”