As we reported, the U.S. launched "self-defense strikes" against Iranian targets as a response to the Iranians shooting down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was rescued according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
They reportedly hit twenty targets in the initial response on Tuesday.
Then President Donald Trump warned we would be hitting them "very hard," signaling that more might be on the way.
More came, as an announcement from CENTCOM confirmed new strikes were underway on Wednesday.
“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 added in a statement on X. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
Fox said explosions were heard in Sirik, Qeshm Island, Minab, and Isfahan. But they apparently hit a lot of places across Iran. CENTCOM further detailed the nature of the strikes in a post on X with a video of a ship firing.
CENTCOM forces launched strikes on Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran. U.S. Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy assets fired precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made another point about those strikes - that they're also a negotiating hammer:
“We'll strike them hard tonight and hopefully Iran makes a good decision,” he said.
“We will hit them hard on our terms, on the targets that improve the environment, for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have.”
Hegseth added that, if pressed, the U.S. is prepared to negotiate with weaponry, emphasizing that President Donald Trump is willing to use force if necessary.
“If we need to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs. And we're very good at it. Nobody better in the world,” he said.
Hegseth said Trump was willing to "go back and fight as necessary" if Iran doesn't make the right choice.
More from Hegseth, as he says the regime has been "tap, tap, tapping" and not making the deal - they were going to feel some "tap, tap, tapping" themselves Wednesday night from bombs.
Trump also told Fox they'd used 49 Tomahawks and were hitting targets as close as 40 miles to Tehran, not just the coastal areas.
Trey Yingst reported that Trump said the Iranians called him directly to ask the U.S. to stop. But Trump said that if they didn't come across, "We'll bomb the s**t out of them tomorrow night."
The regime is denying that they spoke with Trump. Meanwhile, they're still playing that game where, after we hit them, they claim to have hit us, to sound tough. Again, they claimed to have hit a U.S. warship, a claim that CENTCOM nuked.
CENTCOM also said that, contrary to the regime's claims, commercial ships were passing through the Strait. We previously reported about nine days ago how the U.S. assisted in sneaking through about 70 commercial ships. Trump confirmed on Wednesday that by now the count was 200, and it involved 100 million barrels of oil.
So it's not looking good on any front for the regime right now.