Paris Soir - US strikes Iran in latest tit-for-tat attacks

The strikes were the latest in a series of attacks by both US and Iranian forces in recent days that threaten to reignite the simmering conflict.

Iranian state television reported that several explosions were heard in the country's south along the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway.

The official IRNA news agency said that "four projectiles had hit areas within the counties of Chabahar and Konarak," without specifying whether there was any damage.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that the strikes followed "recent attempted attacks by (the Guards) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region."

Trump said the "large and powerful" strikes were "in retaliation for the Iranians' failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait" and "the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan."

"If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebi warned on X that Washington "will regret its new attacks," saying that "severe punishment awaits the aggressors."

- Tankers attacked -

After six months of war, the foes remain at an impasse, with Iran keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and the United States persisting with a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

On Sunday, the United States carried out its first known strikes on Iran in several weeks, hitting an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington said its forces attacked Iranian launchers on the island of Larak to prevent Tehran planting mines in the key shipping lane.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks aimed at Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, saying they targeted US forces there.

The Middle East war began in late February with the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed its former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which was free to transit before the war, previously led to the collapse of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks said Tuesday that two crude tankers were hit by "unknown projectiles" late the previous day.

One of the incidents had been publicized earlier by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which added that no casualties or environmental effects had been reported.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian meanwhile vowed Tuesday to match any US move to return to a deal aimed at ending the war.

He also warned that a return by the United States to "a policy of pressure and threats could derail the path of diplomacy."

Q.Mathieu--PS