U.S.-Iran Retaliatory Escalation Intensifies: "Total Annihilation If Attacked Again" Heightens War Fears

U.S. Launches Airstrikes Within Two Days
Iran Claims Retaliatory Attacks on U.S. Bases in the Region

With the United States and Iran exchanging successive airstrikes and retaliatory attacks, tensions in the Middle East have risen sharply.

Ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

After the U.S. military carried out an additional airstrike against Iran within two days, Iran immediately responded by launching ballistic missiles and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases in the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the United States would launch a much stronger attack if Iran pursued further action, while Iran responded by vowing "severe punishment for the aggressors."

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East, on the 1st (local time), the U.S. military struck targets belonging to Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps around noon Eastern Time (1 a.m. on the 2nd, Korean time).

The United States announced that these attacks were retaliatory measures in response to recent attempts by the Revolutionary Guard to attack civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East.

During this large-scale airstrike, the U.S. military attacked two Iranian government-owned oil tankers, according to an online Axios report citing multiple U.S. officials.

The struck Iranian tankers were anchored off the Iranian coast, north of the U.S. maritime blockade line, and the missiles launched by U.S. drones reportedly hit the engine rooms of these vessels, according to sources.

Axios reported that this was the first time the U.S. military attacked Iranian oil tankers as a reprisal for attacks on vessels.

According to Iran's state-run IRIB broadcaster, explosions were heard in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas as well as on Qeshm Island, Lavan Island, and Asaluyeh in the Strait of Hormuz, and a civilian airport in southeastern Jiroft also came under attack.

U.S. Central Command then said via social media platform X that “on the 1st, we successfully carried out a series of airstrikes on Iranian military targets,” adding, “We attacked targets including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ air defense and radar facilities, naval assets, mine-laying capabilities, and communications infrastructure.”

According to Axios, citing U.S. officials, the number of Iranian targets struck by the U.S. military that day was around 100.

Iran claimed that during the U.S. airstrikes in southern Iran, a bomb struck a private home where a wedding was taking place, resulting in large-scale civilian casualties.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency also reported that in southern Khuzestan Province, a missile attack killed seven people and injured eight others.

There were also casualties among the Revolutionary Guard.

On the 2nd, the Revolutionary Guard issued a statement reporting that four members of its Aerospace Force were killed in a U.S. attack in western Kermanshah Province.

Additionally, according to Mehr News Agency, three Basij militia members affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard lost their lives on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, which is home to one of Iran's four main oil export terminals.

The U.S. attack on Iran on this day came just two days after American forces struck two missile launchers for mine-laying on Larack Island in the Strait of Hormuz on the 30th of the previous month.

At that time, Iran had fired missiles at two U.S. Air Force bases stationed in Jordan, and as the United States retaliated again, the military conflict between the two sides has continued in a vicious cycle of escalation.

Iran immediately launched a counterattack following the U.S. airstrikes.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement announcing that it had “already begun to exact revenge that will make the aggressors deeply regret their actions,” and claimed it had shot down a U.S. MQ-9 attack drone.

The Revolutionary Guard argued that the U.S. attacks “will only further strengthen the security of the Strait of Hormuz and reinforce our fighters’ resolve to suppress foreign intervention in the strait.”

It added that it launched ballistic missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan and struck U.S. forces stationed in Erbil, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.

Iranian forces also claimed to have attacked U.S. military bases in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and other Gulf countries.

In a statement, Iranian forces said that “dozens of attack drones struck U.S. radar systems and positions at Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the UAE,” and that “U.S. radar facilities and troop assembly points at Bahrain’s Shaikh Isa Air Base were also targeted.”

According to U.S. officials cited by Axios, Iran fired about 25 ballistic missiles toward Jordan, but only about half reached Jordanian airspace; of these, 10 were intercepted, and the remaining three landed in Jordan without causing any damage.

Both sides, the United States and Iran, insisted that their attacks were justified actions and warned of strong retaliation.

President Trump declared that the U.S. attack on Iran was legitimate and warned that if Iran retaliated, the response would be much more severe.

On the social media platform Truth Social, he said, “The biggest attack is still on hold. If a third attack takes place, Iran will be totally annihilated as a nation,” and dismissed the prospect of negotiations with Iran, saying, “Any deal with them isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

Hossein Mohebi, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said via X that the United States “will regret this new attack” and that “harsh punishment awaits the aggressors.”

On the 2nd, the spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command, which oversees the Iranian armed forces, also warned, “Any country cooperating with the aggressive U.S. forces will face even harsher, more widespread, and destructive responses.”

It has also been reported that even civilian ships—including one owned by a Korean shipping company—suffered damage in the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil transport.

As the United States carried out strikes on Iran and Iran launched retaliatory attacks, international oil prices surged by around 5% that day, and all three major New York stock indexes closed sharply lower.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.