U.S. Hits Dozens of Iranian Targets in a Two-Hour 'Heavy Wave' and Tehran Vows to 'Punish the Aggressor Today'

American forces struck dozens of targets across Iran in a two-hour barrage that began at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said, an assault the military described as a "heavy wave" of strikes and the sharpest escalation since Washington and Tehran briefly stopped shooting at each other last weekend to let diplomats try again.

CENTCOM said the strikes hit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and air-defense sites, and maritime capabilities. The stated goal was to degrade what the command called threats from Iran and its proxies to U.S. forces, commercial shipping and neighboring Gulf states. The strikes were retaliation for what the U.S. military called a surprise Iranian attack — multiple ballistic missiles fired from Iran at American forces in the region late Tuesday, all of which were intercepted, with Jordan's air defenses helping to bring them down.

The target of that Iranian salvo was Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in the Jordanian desert, where the United States maintains a major presence and where three American soldiers were killed in an Iranian attack earlier this month. Iran launched more missiles at U.S. forces in Jordan again on Thursday, and both Washington and Amman said those were shot down as well. NPR's Jane Arraf, reporting from Amman, said many analysts read Tuesday's opening move as Iran testing the United States under the harder-line leadership that succeeded Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by the U.S. at the start of the war.

Tehran's answer came Thursday morning. The Revolutionary Guard said it "will punish the aggressor today" and warned that countries assisting the United States would "receive a harsh response," according to Iranian state media. The Guard also claimed "full control" of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that "a stranger who has come from thousands of kilometres away will not be allowed to interfere." Tanker traffic through the strait has effectively halted, and Iran has rejected an Omani proposal to split control of the waterway evenly.

Markets moved hard. Brent crude futures closed 7.9% higher at $90.74 a barrel on Wednesday and U.S. crude settled up 6.6% at $84.46, easing slightly in Asian trade Thursday. "This throws cold water on the idea of a swift de-escalation in the Persian Gulf," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING Bank, who pointed to reports that a Saudi refinery remains offline after militia attacks. Seth Krummrich, a retired U.S. Army colonel and vice president at the security firm Global Guardian, said Tuesday's surprise attack broke Iran's pattern of only responding to American strikes and suggests Tehran "may be moving away from diplomacy."

The war, which erupted in late February, is also widening beyond Iran's borders. U.S. and Saudi warplanes struck at least seven bases belonging to Iran-aligned militias in Iraq this week, killing at least 20 people, after Riyadh blamed those groups for damaging attacks on a major oil refinery. The Iraqi government says Saudi Arabia has never produced evidence. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi convened an emergency security meeting and Baghdad has rejected the strikes as violations of its sovereignty. Funerals for the dead fighters and Iranian security advisers drew chants of death to America and death to Saudi rulers, and the militias — some of them now formally part of Iraq's security forces — have given al-Zaidi until next Thursday to respond.

President Donald Trump, who promised earlier in the week that Iran was "going to get a beating," also pressed lawmakers on Wednesday to widen a pending Russia sanctions bill. "I'd like them to add Iran as tariffs, not just as sanctions," he told reporters in the Oval Office.