U.S. Military Resumes Airstrikes Against Iran After Six Days

▲ A U.S. warship sails in the Arabian Sea.

The U.S. military resumed airstrikes against Iran on the 29th local time, six days after operations were halted.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations in the region, announced that "at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the 29th, CENTCOM forces successfully completed a large-scale airstrike operation against Iran in response to Iran's attempted missile attack against U.S. forces the previous day."

In announcing the completion of the strikes, CENTCOM stated, "We struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets across Iran, including military command and control centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense facilities, and naval assets."

It added that the airstrikes were aimed at further degrading the threats posed by Iran and its proxy forces to U.S. personnel, commercial vessels, and neighboring Gulf nations.

CENTCOM also emphasized that more than 50,000 U.S. service members remain deployed in the Middle East, maintaining a high level of vigilance and combat readiness.

The day before, Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles toward a U.S. military base in Jordan, and CENTCOM reported that all of the incoming missiles were successfully intercepted.

Following the U.S. announcement, major foreign media outlets, citing Iranian state media, reported that multiple explosions were heard across several areas in southern Iran, including Qeshm Island and Bushehr.

This marks the resumption of U.S. airstrikes against Iran after a six-day hiatus since the 23rd.

On the 24th, President Donald Trump did not authorize U.S. airstrike plans, stating that talks with Iran were ongoing and that the likelihood of reaching a negotiated settlement was high.

As a result, a 13-day streak of U.S. airstrikes was halted, and the armed confrontation between the two sides entered a lull.

However, President Trump declared on this day, "Now it's our turn," signaling strong retaliation against Iran's preemptive attack.

With the U.S. military resuming airstrikes on Iran, Tehran is also expected to continue retaliatory strikes against U.S. military installations located in American allies across the Middle East.

The Iran War, which broke out on February 28, previously saw a diplomatic phase when the United States and Iran briefly signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) toward ending the conflict.

However, as tensions flared up again over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict has shown signs of intensifying once more.

In particular, the battlefield is expanding as pro-Iranian proxy forces—such as the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq—attack not only U.S. bases but also Saudi oil facilities and oil tankers, alongside an attack on a U.S.-owned liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility off the coast of Egypt.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, which had previously remained passive in its counterattacks despite enduring Iranian strikes, has begun participating limitedly in the war, strongly retaliating against Houthi oil facility attacks last week and joining the U.S. the previous day in striking pro-Iranian militia strongholds in Iraq.

(Photo: U.S. Central Command X account, Yonhap News)

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