U.S. forces launched a second straight day of airstrikes Wednesday in Iran as President Donald Trump presses for a settlement to end a war that has simmered for months.
U.S. Central Command announced what it called “self-defense strikes” against multiple targets without providing further details. The action followed attacks on radar and air defense sites a day earlier in response to the downing of an Army Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent days signaling the looming military actions after the downing of the helicopter.
The latest strikes also targeted defense and radar facilities near the Strait of Hormuz as well as drone command and control sites, according to a U.S. official, granted anonymity to share details not yet made public.
The extent of any casualties was not immediately known.
“U.S. Central Command forces began launching additional self-defense strikes today at 5:15 p.m. ET against multiple targets in Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” CENTCOM said on X. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
Trump has repeatedly moved self-imposed deadlines for a deal to end the war and in recent days has used increasingly ominous rhetoric in discussing what he said was Iran’s refusal to accept U.S. terms.
The latest operation marked another major escalation in the larger conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, its stockpile of enriched uranium and the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the center of the standoff — and whose effective closure has crimped global energy supplies and sent gasoline prices soaring.
The immediate catalyst for the latest escalation was the downing of the Apache helicopter. Trump said military commanders informed him that Iran had shot down the aircraft. Both pilots on board survived and were rescued.
“The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” Trump wrote at the time.
In the days that followed, U.S. Central Command launched what it described as “proportional” strikes on Iranian radar, air-defense and command-and-control facilities. But administration rhetoric increasingly suggested broader military action remained under consideration.
By Wednesday, Hegseth was openly signaling additional military action, saying the United States would strike “key facilities” in Iran and warning that American forces would be “hitting Iran hard.”