US Central Command (CENTCOM) completed "wide, extensive, and impactful" strikes on Iran after explosions were heard in the south of the country on Thursday morning, a US official told The Jerusalem Post.
The scale of the night's bombardment was "about twice the size of the previous," the official added.
Several locations in southern Iran were targeted by US forces, with explosions heard in the cities of Bushehr, Abu Musa, Kish Island, Ahwaz, and Qeshm Island, Iranian state media Press TV reported.
CENTCOM said that US forces "successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran in response to yesterday's attempted missile attacks on US forces."
"CENTCOM assets struck dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities.
"The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries."
Sites across southern Iran were struck
The Deputy Governor of the Hormozgan province in southern Iran said that the US was attacking areas surrounding Qeshm Island, with Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reporting that three explosions were heard on the island.
A residential area on Qeshm Island was hit by a US missile strike, Tasnim reported.
Tasnim also reported explosions in the city of Kazerun in southern Iran.
A US official told Fox News that the ongoing strikes involve "a very broad target set."
The strikes were carried out in response to "yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East," CENTCOM said in a post on X/Twitter.
Iranian strikes on US bases in the Middle East
The strikes follow Iranian attacks on US bases in the Middle East on Wednesday morning.
Jordanian air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran, a state news agency reported.
Hours earlier, Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles towards US military bases across the Middle East, CENTCOM confirmed in a post on X.
"IRGC forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East," the post explained.
The IRGC "fired ballistic missiles at US air bases and US military Central Command center in Jordan," Iran's Revolutionary Guards told Iranian state media on Wednesday.