CENTCOM: US forces launched strikes on Iranian Revolutionary Guard targets inside Iran

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that U.S. forces have begun striking targets belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Iran. In a post on the X platform, CENTCOM stated that the strikes on Iran came after recent aggressive attempts by the IRGC targeting navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as U.S. military personnel in the region. The post read: “U.S. forces began, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, striking IRGC targets inside Iran. These strikes follow recent aggressive actions by the IRGC that targeted commercial shipping navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as U.S. military personnel deployed in the region.”

Earlier, the Axios news website quoted a U.S. official stating that the U.S. Air Force had struck Iranian targets in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz.

For his part, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent affirmed that the Strait of Hormuz would become a “strategically insignificant and formed” waterway within two years. Bessent made these remarks to journalists on Tuesday while in Asheville, California, to preside over the second and final day of the Group of Twenty (G20) meetings. He said, “The Iranians are trying to use the Strait of Hormuz as a leverage card... While it does not pose any pressure on the United States, it does on many other countries.” He added that “this situation will change within two years, as the Strait of Hormuz will become merely a waterway of little value, with oil to be transported via land pipelines.” He emphasized that securing supply chains is vital not only for oil shipments but also for the transport of “semiconductors, critical minerals, advanced technologies, and raw materials used in the production of many medicines,” stressing the need to “mitigate risks (supply chain bottlenecks) worldwide.”