The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it resumed attacks against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iranian territory on Tuesday, September 1. According to a statement by CENTCOM on X, the operations are a response to recent attempts by the IRGC to strike commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and American military personnel deployed in the region. Iranian government sources and media have confirmed four explosions in the port cities of Chabahar and Konarak, in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, citing the province’s deputy governor for security, General Ali Khalilabadi, the two centers were hit by four separate attacks; at present, definitive casualty figures have not been released. Further explosions were reported east of Bandar Abbas and near Qeshm Island, both overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. According to local sources, more than five explosions were also heard near the village of Masan, on Qeshm Island. Chabahar and Konarak are two strategic port cities facing the Gulf of Oman, housing significant commercial, maritime, and military infrastructure. Iranian state television reported an attack by US forces targeting Jiroft Airport in the southern part of Kerman province as regional military engagements continue to expand.
IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi promised “severe punishment” for the “aggressors,” warning that “America will regret” the new attacks. Echoing this sentiment, the Central Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, according to state broadcaster IRIB, threatened to deliver “crushing and devastating blows” against the “American enemy,” warning that the more Washington persists with its aggression in the region, the heavier the losses it will have to bear. Tuesday’s raids follow a new exchange of fire over the weekend, the first after more than a month of relative calm. On Sunday, the United States struck the Iranian island of Larak in the south of the country, with the stated goal of preventing Tehran from laying mines in the strait; Iran retaliated by launching missiles at American positions in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. President Donald Trump first told Fox News that the United States would strike hard in the event of Iranian retaliation, promising “a response.” Then, in a subsequent social media post, he doubled down, warning that any Iranian retaliation would be punished “at a much harder and higher level,” while clarifying that this would not be “the biggest attack of all, which remains on standby”: after that, he wrote, “there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” This is not the first time the American president has used such a tone since the conflict began last February. Meanwhile, U.S. diplomatic missions in the Middle East issued new security alerts on Tuesday, urging American citizens in the region to maintain a high level of vigilance in an environment deemed “increasingly unstable” and at risk of “unpredictable escalations.” The advisories recommend checking flight statuses directly with airlines or local airports before traveling, highlighting the concrete risk of cancellations and airspace closures. The diplomatic notes stress that potential threats are not limited to military targets: Iran and its affiliated regional groups could strike American interests anywhere in the world, including businesses, academic institutions, and other locations associated with the United States. The State Department also recalled that Iran has targeted civilian infrastructure in the past—airports, hotels, urban centers—urging citizens to avoid military bases, monitor for any warning sirens, and follow the instructions of local authorities during moments of aerial combat. Now the clash is no longer confined solely to the direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. Pro-Iranian Iraqi militias have launched drones at oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, striking areas of Riyadh and the kingdom’s eastern regions, according to the official Saudi press agency SPA. In response, U.S. and Saudi warplanes conducted joint raids against the same militias in Iraq on Tuesday, according to CENTCOM. The Yemeni Houthis, another Tehran ally, had already claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack on a Saudi oil infrastructure supplying the Yanbu export terminal on the Red Sea—a route Riyadh is increasingly relying on due precisely to the traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. After six months of conflict, the situation remains in a stalemate: Iran is effectively keeping the Strait closed, while Washington continues the naval blockade of Iranian ports initiated in recent months. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking at the G20 finance ministers’ summit, defended the White House’s strategy, calling the military action, sanctions, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz a “trifecta” capable of bringing the Iranian economy to its knees. Bessent also argued that within two years, the Strait of Hormuz itself will lose significance as a global energy corridor as alternative pipelines are developed to bypass what he called a “bottleneck.” The secretary attributed the failure of the previously negotiated memorandum of understanding to a lack of Iranian willingness to reach a genuine agreement. Behind the scenes of the clash, however, fears are growing within the Pentagon. Sources close to defense circles report that top U.S. military officials have expressed strong concerns to the Secretary of Defense regarding the long-term sustainability of such an extensive air campaign. The continuous operational tempo and the massive use of expensive interceptor missiles to neutralize swarms of drones and ballistic vectors are rapidly eroding the global strategic reserves of the American armed forces, fueling the debate on the vulnerability of the military supply chain in the face of potential crises in other global theaters.
While Washington pursues its strategy of all-out conflict, the issue of human rights in Iran has been completely sidelined. The regime’s brutal domestic repression—once a cornerstone of Western rhetoric—has been quietly removed from any strategic priority, sacrificed on the altar of a cynical realpolitik that subordinates every humanitarian concern to the logic of military confrontation.
