The United States launched a fresh wave of air strikes against Iranian targets Tuesday, crushing hopes that last weekend’s exchange of fire would remain an isolated flare up.

The operation focused on forces tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Oil markets were already rattled after the first direct attacks between the two countries since July.

Brent crude futures, which had climbed 2 percent earlier Tuesday, jumped nearly another 2 percent as reports emerged of tankers being struck near the strait.

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Iran has effectively closed the critical waterway to commercial shipping, threatening energy supplies moving out of the Gulf.

Tehran remained defiant despite President Donald Trump’s warning that the United States would hit Iran “hard” following renewed Iranian attacks.

“Today at 12 p.m. ET (1600 GMT), U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran,” U.S. Central Command announced on X.

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“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region.”

Iranian state media subsequently reported explosions across several strategically important locations.

The country’s state broadcaster cited blasts on Qeshm Island, which sits along the northern side of the Strait of Hormuz.

Nour News, a state linked outlet, reported explosions around the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar. Iran’s official IRNA news agency also reported hearing explosions in Jask and Sirik, suggesting the American operation reached multiple points along Iran’s coastline.

Trump made clear that Tehran would pay an even steeper price if it chose to answer the latest American operation. He wrote that if Iran retaliated, “they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level”.

Iran responded with its customary chest beating, as the Fars news agency quoted an IRGC spokesperson saying the United States “will regret its new attacks”.

Tehran’s rhetoric came as the United States Embassy in Qatar urged Americans across the Middle East to exercise “heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions”.

The six month conflict had increasingly become an economic showdown before military action resumed over the weekend.

American forces struck Iran’s Larak Island on Sunday, after which Tehran launched missiles toward two United States air bases in Jordan.

Trump warned that Washington would answer the Iranian strikes, though he told reporters Monday that the attack did not necessarily mark a return to full scale war.

A senior Iranian source likewise described the weekend fighting as a “limited and contained confrontation”.

Those assurances have done little to eliminate the danger of escalation because both governments have pledged to respond to additional attacks.

A struggle increasingly waged through sanctions, blockades and economic pressure has again moved into direct military action.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday during a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan that Tehran would immediately reciprocate if Washington honored commitments under a June Memorandum of Understanding.

That agreement was intended to halt fighting that began after American and Israeli strikes on February 28.

The conflict has killed thousands in Iran and Lebanon, while the memorandum deferred many of the toughest disputes to a broader 60 day negotiating period.

That period expired without another agreement, and Iranian officials have offered no public indication that they intend to yield.

“If the enemy wants us not to export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil,” Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said, according to Iranian media.

The threat places commercial shipping and global energy markets directly in Tehran’s sights.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei accused Washington of being “addicted to making excessive demands and has mistaken negotiations for dictating terms”.

He added, “As long as they act in this manner, they will certainly get no result other than what they have achieved so far,” while warning that Iran would “use all our capabilities, whether on the battlefield or through our diplomatic apparatus”.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said before the latest strikes that Washington was preparing additional banking sanctions designed to “economically asphyxiate” Iran’s leadership.

Speaking at a G20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, he said American officials were also examining airline leasing companies and other entities conducting business with the IRGC.

“We have zero tolerance. We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime,” Bessent said, while also warning that countries continuing to trade with Iran could face American sanctions.

The danger to global energy supplies became more immediate Monday when two supertankers carrying Saudi oil were struck by unknown projectiles while leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipping intelligence and tracking firms Marisks and Kpler reported that the vessels were hit within minutes of each other.

“The tit-for-tat missile exchanges between the U.S. and Iran bring validation to those who believe that even if not a ‘forever war’, this conflict will run and run,” PVM analyst John Evans said.

With American airpower back in action and Iran threatening Gulf exports, the next move from Tehran could determine whether the confrontation remains contained or erupts again.

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