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American forces began striking Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets inside Iran on Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced, and Iranian media subsequently reported explosions near Qeshm Island and around the cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
CENTCOM said in a post on the US social media platform X that "today at 12 p.m. ET, U.S. forces began striking Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran." The command linked the operation to a pattern of prior incidents, stating that "the strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region."
Axios reported the strikes before CENTCOM's public confirmation, citing US officials familiar with the operation.
After the US military announced the start of the operation, Iranian media outlets reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island as well as in and around Bandar Abbas and the city of Sirik. No further details on the scale or targets of the reported blasts were immediately available from those reports.
Qeshm Island, Iran's largest island, lies in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that serves as one of the world's most important routes for oil and gas shipments. Bandar Abbas, a major port city on Iran's southern coast, also sits along the strait.
CENTCOM's statement tied the strikes directly to what it described as attempted IRGC attacks on commercial shipping traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, along with actions against American troops stationed in the region.
The IRGC is a branch of Iran's armed forces that operates separately from the country's conventional military and has previously been designated by Washington as playing a role in regional naval activity around the strait.
The strikes come against a backdrop of sustained tension between Tehran and Washington. According to the report, hostilities trace back to US strikes on Iran in late February, which were followed by a framework agreement reached in June through mediation by Pakistan and Qatar. The United States subsequently carried out a two-week bombing campaign in July and reimposed a naval blockade amid disputes over navigation rights in the Strait of Hormuz.
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