President Trump just answered Iran’s latest move with American air power.

The U.S. Air Force is striking Iranian military targets around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials cited in a breaking report from Axios.

The first reports landed shortly before noon Central time Tuesday. Iran International said the operation included what a U.S. official described as precise defensive strikes in and around Bandar Abbas, the major Iranian port overlooking the strait.

This appears to be a new and broader round of action. It comes two days after U.S. forces hit two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, but officials had not immediately released a complete target list for Tuesday’s operation.

Axios reported Monday that U.S. Central Command had spent the previous week developing a plan for repeated limited strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. The objective was to stop Iran from rebuilding the radar, air-defense and anti-ship missile systems it could use to attack commercial vessels.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backed the plan and sent it to the White House, according to three U.S. officials cited by the outlet. The proposal was still awaiting approval before the weekend exchange of fire.

Axios noted that the new escalation could change President Trump’s decision.

The military has spent the past two months degrading Iran’s maritime capabilities, clearing mines and helping guide ships through the strait. Tuesday’s reported Air Force operation may be the first sign that the broader target plan has now moved from the briefing room into action.

The timing is no accident. A Reuters dispatch published by Al-Monitor said two supertankers carrying Saudi crude were struck by unknown projectiles within minutes of each other late Monday while leaving the strait.

Maritime security firm Marisks described the near-simultaneous incidents as another escalation in the threat facing ships inside the Omani corridor.

Each tanker had loaded roughly two million barrels at Saudi Arabia’s Juaymah terminal the previous week, according to Kpler figures cited by Reuters. Saudi Aramco only resumed moving oil from inside the strait in August after months of severe disruption.

No party had publicly claimed the attacks when the report was published. But the hits created an immediate test for Washington’s effort to keep energy moving through the world’s most important oil chokepoint while denying Iran control over the route.

President Trump had already warned that Iran would be hit hard if it continued threatening American forces and international shipping. Tuesday’s strikes suggest that warning was backed by a prepared target package, not empty rhetoric.

The Associated Press reported that Sunday’s limited strike came after U.S. Central Command observed Revolutionary Guard forces preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz. American forces hit two launchers on Larak Island, ending a month-long lull in direct U.S. military action against Iran.

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Iranian outlets reported explosions near the island, while the Revolutionary Guard acknowledged deaths and injuries. Iran then claimed it fired missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan in retaliation.

That exchange showed how quickly a narrowly targeted operation can widen. The U.S. military had only recently finished clearing mines from internationally recognized shipping routes.

Any renewed attempt to seed the waterway threatens American forces, commercial crews and energy markets around the world.

The Strait of Hormuz remains the world’s most important oil chokepoint, and Iran has spent months trying to use it as leverage against the United States and the global economy.

President Trump is making the opposite case with force: the waterway will not become Iran’s private toll road, and attacks on ships will carry a price.

Details on the targets and damage are still developing. We will update this report as U.S. Central Command releases more information.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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