US conducts new strikes on Iranian targets, officials say
The U.S. strikes came after a cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations last month aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange relatively limited strikes despite the signing of the memorandum and amid the continuation of peace talks.
Key Headlines
- US conducts new strikes on Iranian targets, officials say
- 'Catastrophic consequences': UN secretary-general warns against Iran war escalation
- Gulf states, Pakistan condemn latest round of Iranian strikes
- 'Traffic is flowing' in the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM says
- 5 Middle East, Gulf nations report fresh attacks
Some explosions reported in Iran
Local sources have reported hearing several explosions near Bandar Abbas and Sirik, according to State Media ISNA.
The coastal defenses of Bandar Abbas and Qeshm are confronting hostile target, Iranian state media FARS said Wednesday.
Iran has shot down at least 30 Reaper drones
Since the start of the war, Iran has managed to shoot down roughly 30 U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned drones, according to a U.S. official.
Reapers, initially introduced in the Air Force in 2007, can be armed with a various missiles and bombs and is emblematic of the increasing reliance on drone warfare in the Middle East and other war zones.
The drones cost roughly $30 million each.
-ABC News' Steven Beynon
Vance vows US will 'punch back harder than ever' if Iran continues attacks
During remarks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Vice President JD Vance doubled down on the president’s criticism of Iran’s recent escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, vowing that the U.S. will “punch back harder than ever before" -- though he declined to elaborate on whether the U.S. will be striking on Wednesday.
“The basic deal that we cut was we’ll lift our blockade if you stop shooting at ships. But if you shoot at ships, we are going to punch back and we're going to punch back harder than ever before,” Vance said.
The vice president also criticized Iran for going back on its word, saying it was only “well-behaved for about a week.”
“They said they would stop shooting at ships, and what happened 24 hours ago? They start shooting at ships again,” Vance said. “Now they were good, they were well-behaved for about a week, but then they start shooting at ships.”
“So the deal is very simple: if they shoot at ships, we're going to knock the hell out of them, and it's that simple, and that’s the basic way it’s gonna work,” he added.
Despite this setback, Vance maintained that the U.S. holds the power in negotiations with “maximum leverage and maximum strength.”
8 Iranian army members killed
Eight members of the Iranian army were killed in U.S. attacks on southern parts of Iran early on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported.
The victims belonged to the air force and navy and died due to strikes in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr, it added.