Washington — US forces carried out airstrikes against multiple targets in southern Iran on Tuesday, officials confirmed, marking a significant escalation as diplomatic negotiations with Tehran appeared to collapse under the weight of military action.
The strikes, described by the Pentagon as “limited self-defense strikes,” targeted weapons storage and military infrastructure in the Hormuzgan region along Iran’s Persian Gulf coast. The operation comes just hours after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran to take “another way” — a phrase that now reads as an ultimatum rejected.
Fox News reported the strikes were conducted in coordination with regional partners, though no ally has publicly claimed involvement. The operation follows Iran’s refusal to surrender its enriched uranium stockpile as demanded by Washington days earlier.
The timing is deliberate. Iranian negotiators had been in Doha for talks aimed at reviving the nuclear memorandum of understanding when word of the strikes reached the delegation. Within hours, Iran’s president ordered the restoration of internet services nationwide — a move widely interpreted as preparing the public for potential broader conflict after months of restrictions.
National Security Council spokespersonal said the strikes were “necessary and proportionate to protect American personnel and interests in the region.” No US casualties were reported. Iran’s state media acknowledged explosions in Hormuzgan but stopped short of attributing them to the United States.
The strikes effectively end the current diplomatic track. Iranian hardliners have long argued that negotiations under American military pressure are futile — a position now validated. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, reported to be in a secure undisclosed location, has not addressed the nation since the strikes began.
Regional allies were not consulted in advance, according to two officials briefed on the matter. Israel, which has conducted its own strikes against Iranian-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, was given no advance notice, one official said.
Oil markets reacted sharply. Brent crude surged past $104 per barrel on news of the strikes before paring gains as traders weighed the risk of broader supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
The strikes represent the most direct US military action against Iranian territory since the 2020s, and the first time American forces have struck Tehran’s nuclear-adjacent infrastructure with executive approval from the White House.
