Iran live updates: US launches airstrikes against Iran, official says

Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Iran attacked seven commercial ships over the past week.

In a statement posted on social media, Cooper said the attacks resulted in nearly a dozen civilian crew members killed, injured or missing.

"Iranian forces have also launched dozens of missiles and drones toward neighboring Gulf countries," Cooper said in the statement. "U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives."

The U.S. has launched several rounds of retaliatory strikes in response to the Iranian attacks, U.S. officials have said.

The Trump administration is increasing financial pressures on Iran by slapping new sanctions on an Iranian oil tycoon and more than 50 other people, ships and companies linked to him on Tuesday.

The new sanctions hit "more than 50 individuals, entities, and vessels that enable Shamkhani and the Iranian regime to continue profiting," according to the Treasury Department.

"The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines. Treasury is shutting down the financial infrastructure that allows the regime to continue its threats to U.S. national security and global shipping," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release Tuesday.

As the U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping action is back in effect, the action targets at least eight oil tankers that Treasury said are linked to Iranian oil businesses.

The action also targets individuals and firms that the government says supports financial services that allow Iranian agencies to evade sanctions.

U.S. forces have resumed a naval blockade of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command announced. The blockade went back into effect at 4 p.m.

A U.S. official confirmed that U.S. forces are currently conducting airstrikes in Iran.

The official said the airstrikes had been underway for the last couple of hours.

At 3 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.  

The strikes are taking place as American forces prepare to resume the naval blockade against Iranian ports and coastal areas. The blockade goes into effect at 4 p.m. ET.