(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US Central Command on Monday took credit for attacks on Iran after Iranian media reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement to CNN, CENTCOM spokesman Timothy Hawkins framed the attack on Iran as “self-defense” even though the strikes come as the US is enforcing a blockade on the country that’s part of the same war of aggression the US and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic on February 28.
“US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Hawkins said, adding that the US targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats he claimed were attempting to lay mines. “US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” he said.
Unconfirmed reports say that four members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in the attack on Bandar Abbas. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin said on X that she was told the US strikes on Iran were “over for now,” but it’s unclear how Iran will respond, and the US attack could mean the resumption of full-blown war in the region, something President Trump has repeatedly threatened.
Since the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire last month, the US has bombed Iranian ports at least one other time and has attacked several Iranian commercial vessels in its enforcement of the blockade, which Tehran says is a violation of the truce deal since it’s an act of war.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
