U.S. Forces Intercepted Iranian Missiles In ‘Surprise Attack’
U.S. forces intercepted Iranian missiles in a “surprise attack” against American forces on Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, ending a brief pause in fighting.
Central Command said ballistic missiles targeted U.S. personnel based in the Middle East.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched the missiles, Central Command said, though the armed service has not publicly taken responsibility as of Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump briefly paused strikes against Iran last week and threatened military escalation if already fragile negotiations with the country failed.
Trump told Axios on Monday if “very deep talks with Iran” fail, “we will go back to very strong military action,” noting there is “not much time” for diplomacy.
Trump has reportedly fielded concerns from advisers about a diminished stockpile of air defense munitions, The New York Times reported, though the president insisted to reporters Monday the U.S. has “plenty” of munitions.
Prices for Brent crude oil, the global oil benchmark, are up 21.4% in the last month of trading.
Trump paused strikes against Iran on Friday after nearly two weeks of bombardments that targeted military assets and IRGC bases. The pause, according to the Times, came as unnamed administration officials said a return to major combat operations presented a risk to stockpiles of missile interceptors, which could impact U.S. allies around the Persian Gulf. The Trump administration has reported 18 deaths and 482 wounded amid the war after it removed four soldiers recently killed in the renewed fighting from the death toll, citing “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” as the reason for their removal. The U.S. and Iran were on track to negotiate a peace deal last month with the signing of a “memorandum of understanding” that called for the end of military operations and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for roughly 25% of the global maritime oil trade. After the agreement was signed, strikes continued over control of the strait as the U.S. insisted it was open while Iran claimed the opposite. Trump said the ceasefire was over early this month following the strikes.