The United States military said on Tuesday it had struck Iranian missile sites near the strategic Strait of Hormuz using using some of the most powerful munitions in its arsenal.
"Hours ago, US forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz," United States Central Command said in a statement on X. Further justifying the attack it added, " The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the strait."
This came just hours after US President Donald Trump said the United States did not need support from its allies as it continued military operations against Iran, declaring it is "by far the most powerful country anywhere in the world and they do not need the help of anyone!"
In a post on Truth Social, Trump added that several NATO allies had declined to take part in the US-led campaign. "The United States has been informed by most of our Nato 'allies' that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon," he wrote.
Trump on Tuesday also described the ongoing US-Israel military operations against Iran as "proceeding very well," warning that Tehran must not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons and that it would take at least a decade to rebuild whatever has been destroyed in the course of bombing across the region.
"The war is proceeding very well... We can't let them have a nuclear weapon... They would have used it very gladly... We did a good job... Every time you see somebody with no legs, no arms, a face that's been really so badly damaged, lives destroyed, 95% chance it came right out of Iran," Trump said.
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Trump further said that it would take ten years to rebuild the damage that had been done to Iran.
"We have a country that was hotter than any country anywhere in the world... They could leave today, and it would take 10 years to rebuild the damage that's been done. But I think we have to make it a little bit more permanent so that no other President has to go through this," he said.
Meanwhile, tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East, with Iran's security chief now confirmed to be dead in Israel airstrikes. Additionally, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel, Dubai and Us bases in Baghdad, according to various media reports.
