The U.S. military released dramatic footage of more than a dozen strikes on Iranian military positions along the Strait of Hormuz, as President Trump called on the Iranian people to "rise up and fight" and declared the regime's economy is collapsing under American pressure.
The strikes hit radar systems and military assets across a 300-mile stretch of Iran's southern coastline on Tuesday, targeting positions on Qeshm Island, in the port city of Bandar Abbas, and as far east as Chabahar, the Daily Mail reported. Iranian state media confirmed the strikes on all three locations. The Pentagon said the targets were military, not civilian, and that the attacks were precision operations.
Iran fired back within hours. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it launched a ballistic missile barrage at Camp Titin, a U.S. Marine base in Jordan that hosts roughly 4,000 American troops. Jordan's military said its forces confronted 13 incoming ballistic missiles, destroyed 10, and reported the remaining three landed in remote, unpopulated areas. Whether the retaliatory strike caused any damage or casualties at the base remains unclear.
Hours after the footage went public, Trump posted a message on Truth Social rejecting reports that the strikes were designed to push Tehran back to the bargaining table.
"I'm not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported. I couldn't care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable."
He closed the post with a pointed question aimed directly at the Iranian public: "When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?"
The message fits a pattern. Trump has repeatedly used public statements and visual evidence to project strength in the conflict, including an earlier episode in which he posted an AI-created video as a direct warning to Tehran.
The White House position remains that Iran must surrender its stockpile of enriched uranium and dismantle its nuclear program. Trump has refused to extend a ceasefire that expired two weeks ago and has signaled no interest in returning to talks.
The strikes are the latest escalation in a conflict that has now stretched past six months. Trump launched Operation Epic Fury earlier this year, and the U.S. has since deployed approximately 50,000 troops across the region. Eighteen American service members have been killed over the course of the war.
A Pakistan-mediated ceasefire signed in June produced a 14-point agreement and gave both sides 60 days to negotiate an end to hostilities. Fighting restarted within weeks. The deal expired on August 17 with nothing to replace it, and the conflict has only intensified since.
Iran has spent months choking off the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil normally flows, using explosive suicide drones and sea mines. Earlier in the week, Iranian forces hit two U.S.-backed commercial oil tankers attempting to cross the Persian Gulf. Trump had previously announced major strikes near the strait in response to Iranian provocations.
Late Tuesday night, U.S. forces were still intercepting incoming attacks, the Washington Post reported. Fighter jets launched from a U.S. warship Tuesday evening as operations continued into the overnight hours.
The economic fallout is landing squarely on American consumers. By Wednesday morning, Brent crude was trading at approximately $94 per barrel. The average price of regular gasoline in the United States stood at $4.12 per gallon, a direct consequence of the disruption to global shipping through the Hormuz chokepoint.
The broader economic pressure campaign against Iran has extended well beyond the military theater. Trump earlier launched what the White House called "Operation Economic Outcast," a sweeping sanctions effort targeting not only Tehran but also nations, including China, that continue doing business with the regime.
Iran has refused to make concessions unless the U.S. lifts its naval blockade and allows Tehran to control the strait. That demand is a non-starter for Washington, which views freedom of navigation through Hormuz as a core strategic interest.
Iran claimed that U.S. strikes killed civilians at a wedding at a home in southern Iran. The Pentagon denied the reports, stating that it does not target civilians during precision strikes. No specific location, casualty count, or independent verification of Iran's claim appeared in available reporting.
The civilian casualty allegation is the kind of claim Tehran has used before to build international pressure against U.S. operations. Without independent confirmation, the Pentagon's denial stands as the only official U.S. response.
The security situation has also raised questions about the safety of American personnel across the region. Jordan, which has repeatedly been targeted by Iran, faces the most direct risk. The IRGC's claimed strike on Camp Titin marked another direct attack on a U.S. ally hosting American troops. Trump at one point took extraordinary personal precautions, secretly boarding a catering truck to evade an Iranian threat during a NATO summit departure.
The conflict carries a 31 percent approval rating at home. By any measure, the war is not popular with the American public. Gas prices are elevated, 18 service members are dead, and the ceasefire collapsed without producing a lasting agreement.
Trump has made clear he views the current position, a naval blockade strangling Iran's economy, U.S. forces controlling the strait, and Tehran's military infrastructure under sustained bombardment, as preferable to any deal Iran would actually honor. His administration has declared Iran's nuclear program the top U.S. objective, overriding other proposed priorities and signaling that the campaign will continue until Tehran's enrichment capability is dismantled.
Several major questions remain unanswered. The identities of the 18 fallen service members have not been publicly detailed in this reporting. The full extent of damage to the two oil tankers hit earlier in the week, and whether their crews suffered casualties, is unknown. And the specific terms of the expired 14-point ceasefire have not been disclosed.
What is clear is the trajectory. The footage released Tuesday was not a warning shot. It was a progress report, from a president who has decided that the only acceptable outcome is Iran's capitulation, and who appears willing to sustain the cost until he gets it.
Whether the Iranian people answer Trump's call to rise up remains to be seen. But the regime in Tehran now faces a president who has told them plainly: he is not looking for a deal, and he is not going away.
