The US says it has struck multiple Iranian naval vessels, including 16 minelaying vessels operating near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest oil shipping channel.
Its effective closure has already led to a sharp rise in petrol prices, and the White House said the US military was drawing up additional options designed to keep it open.
The strikes were part of military action in the country on Tuesday, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warning it would be the “most intense” day of strikes thus far.
A top Iranian security official said early on Tuesday his country is not scared of what he called “worthless threats” by President Donald Trump.
During a Tuesday morning US defence department update on the operation in Iran, Hegseth told US goals include destroying Iran’s missile stockpiles, their missile launchers and their defence industrial base; destroying Iran’s navy; and permanently denying the country nuclear weapons.
He said that in the last 24 hours, Iran has fired the lowest number of missiles since the start of the war.
Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine said that Iranian ballistic missile attacks continue to trend downwards.
They are “90% from where they started, and one-way attack drones have decreased 83% since the beginning of the operation”, he said.
Hegseth did not give a timeline for the conflict ending, telling reporters that “our will is endless,” but it was up to the president how long it would last.
He also said this would not be a repeat of the past, when the US became involved in drawn-out conflicts in the Middle East.
“This is not 2003,” he said. “This is not endless nation-building under those types of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama. It’s not even close. Our generation of soldiers will not let that happen again, and nor will this president, who very clearly ran against those kinds of never-ending, nebulous-scope missions.”
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said around 140 US service members have been wounded since the beginning of the Iran war on 28 February.
It said most injuries have been minor and 108 service members have already returned to duty, while eight people were severely injured.
Trump on Monday said on Truth Social that Iran would be hit hard if it disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Senior Iranian security official Larijani responded, calling Trump’s threats “worthless” and adding that “even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate the Iranian nation.” “Be careful, so that you won’t get eliminated,” he concluded.
Trump continued to issue a series of warnings on social media on Tuesday, threatening severe military consequences if the country deploys mines along the pivotal channel, though he noted the US has no reports of this happening.
But the BBC’s US partner CBS News has reported that US intelligence assets believe Iran is preparing to possibly deploy naval mines in the Strait in the future.
The president later said the US had hit and completely destroyed a number of “inactive mine-laying boats and/or ships”.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency held a second meeting with G7 nations on Tuesday to discuss options for stabilising the global oil market, including releasing millions of barrels of crude from countries’ stockpiles.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US military was discussing plans to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open to oil tankers.
On the ground in Iran, people have expressed anxiety and a feeling of uncertainty over what comes next.
At least 1,230 people have been killed across the country since the start of the conflict, according to the humanitarian organisation, the Iranian Red Crescent.
“I was in total darkness last night,” one man in his 30s from Tehran said, while others reported temporary blackouts or power fluctuations.
“I’m feeling terrible. They hit a street near us today. I just want to be able to sleep tonight,” a man in his 20s in the capital said.
Amir, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, spoke to BBC Persian on Monday from Tehran, where he said the sound of the bombing “is so loud that it would be heard across the city”.
“We feel overwhelmed, we feel anxious and exhausted and the idea of no future is looming large over us,” he added.
Across the Iranian border in eastern Turkey, people who had fled described the fear of the unknown size and scope of the missile attacks.
“When I opened the balcony door, the blast was so powerful it threw me back”, one woman said, describing missile strikes to the BBC.
In the early days of the war, she said, “Strikes were few; now they come in waves”.
