US bombing Iran for 2nd straight day after Trump declares cease-fire with ‘sick’ regime ‘over’
President Trump ordered another round of airstrikes against Iran on Wednesday, a day after more than 80 targets were hit by US forces in response to the regime’s attacks on cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
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“At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command said in a statement.
“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” CENTCOM added.
A US official described the assault as “wider in scope” than Tuesday’s strikes and said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps coastal radars, anti-ship missile positions and air defense systems were among the targets, according to Axios.
Iranian state media reported explosions in the southern port city of Chabahar – which is about 300 miles south of the Strait of Hormuz – Konarak, Bandar Abbas and the Persian Gulf islands of Qeshm and Abu Musa.
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Blasts were also reported in the northern Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment but Trump earlier declared the cease-fire “over” and he no longer wants to deal with “sick” regime leaders.
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“I don’t like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,” Trump said at the NATO summit in Turkey.
When asked by a reporter if the preliminary peace deal Trump signed on June 17 was dead, the president replied: “To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”
On Tuesday, US forces battered Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in response to Iran’s attacks on three commercial ships in the strait earlier in the week.
In total, more than 80 targets were hit with precision munitions in Tuesday night’s strikes, according to CENTCOM.
The 14-point memorandum of understanding agreed to last month called for a 60-day window to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while negotiations continued on the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iran assets.
Tehran, however, has insisted that commercial shipping vessels use regime-approved sea routes while transiting the strait and has attacked tankers that have opted to take a route along the Omani coast, preferred by the US and its allies.
The latest round of US strikes are the fourth since the MOU was signed.
