The Pentagon said the U.S. military launched "self-defense strikes" on Iranian targets Thursday after "unprovoked" attacks from the Islamic republic on U.S. Navy vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
No U.S. assets were struck by Iranian attacks, but U.S. forces hit Iranian military facilities behind the attacks, U.S. Central Command, the arm of the U.S. military overseeing operations in the Middle East, said in a statement. The agency added it does not want to see an "escalation" of the fighting.
"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces," the statement said. "CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces."
Iranian state media reported the U.S. struck Iranian ports on Qeshm Island and the city of Bandar Abbas. The two sites are located near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says they launched attacks on U.S. Navy assets after American forces tried to seize an Iranian oil tanker. U.S. forces on Wednesday struck an Iranian oil tanker, disabling the vessel.
The White House and Pentagon did not respond to requests for information. The apparent resumption of hostilities comes as President Donald Trump says progress is being made in negotiations as Tehran reviews a U.S. framework for peace talks.
Anunciata Schwebel could only watch in horror on FaceTime while her friend and tenant slunk into a bathtub to take cover from one of several tornadoes that slammed into Mississippi just after sunset Wednesday.
A Muslim man, 
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday slammed an Israeli real estate expo at a local synagogue one day earlier, which had been promoting homes and land in the occupied West Bank.
On Wednesday, Ireland’s lower house of parliament, the Dáil Éireann, ratified the Convention establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine.
A mega tsunami in Alaska last year in a fjord visited by cruise ships is a stark warning of the risks of coastal rockslides and glacier retreat fueled by the climate crisis, a new study warns.
The US military fired on an Iranian-flagged oil tanker on Wednesday, shortly after Donald Trump issued a fresh ultimatum to Tehran, telling it to accept a deal to end the war or face a new wave of US bombing “at a much higher level and intensity than it was before”.
