The US carried out strikes overnight on Iranian coast-based missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz aimed at keeping the waterway open for international shipping. US Central Command, which operates from a major detachment in Bahrain, confirmed the strikes on Wednesday.
“Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz,” the command said in a post on X, adding that the Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles at those sites posed a risk to international shipping. CENTCOM also released a map showing the strike locations.
Sources said the anti-ship missiles along Iran’s coast can target any vessel transiting the strait. The strikes followed a tepid response to US President Donald Trump’s proposal the previous day for a collective multi-nation force to keep the Strait of Hormuz open; NATO European allies, Japan, Australia and South Korea had rejected the plan.
The Strait of Hormuz, a 33-kilometre-wide channel between Iran and Oman, has strategic importance and disruptions there have affected crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas supplies.
