The United States resumed airstrikes inside Iran Wednesday night in retaliation for Tehran's attempted surprise ballistic-missile attack on American forces.
The strikes are a powerful response to yesterday's attempted Iranian attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command.
The renewed strikes marked the first U.S. attacks inside Iran since President Donald Trump paused the bombing campaign Friday after 13 consecutive nights to allow diplomacy another chance.
Bahnam Ben Taleblu, a senior director of the Iran program, warned that the surprise nature of Iran's attack reflected a significant shift in Tehran's strategy, making it more risk-tolerant and confident.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran at U.S. forces in the region at approximately 5:45 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, but all were intercepted, and no casualties or damage were immediately reported.
Trump later vowed a forceful response, telling a news outlet that the United States would be "hitting them hard" and that Iran was "going to get a beating." However, Ben Taleblu cautioned that successful interceptions alone may not restore deterrence.
The attack came as the nearly five-month conflict threatened to widen across the region, with Iran targeting commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the United States and Saudi Arabia jointly striking Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq following drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
The conflict has already claimed lives and threatens already-fragile negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran insists on broader control over shipping routes through.
The United States must respond while preparing for another Iranian counterattack, warning that allowing Tehran to claim it had "closed the round" after retaliating would reinforce the regime's belief that it can dictate the pace of the conflict.
