American forces carried out strikes against Iran on Wednesday night, in what the U.S. military called a “powerful response” to Iran’s missile attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan.
The strikes came hours after President Trump vowed to retaliate for the surprise ballistic missile strike, dashing hopes for an imminent diplomatic breakthrough. Though the assault was larger in scope than previous U.S. attacks, it didn’t amount to a return to major combat operations, according to a U.S. official.
U.S. forces carried out a “heavy wave” of strikes, attacking dozens of targets, including military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities, said U.S. Central Command after the strikes were completed. “The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries,” the command said.
“We are going to be hitting them very hard,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday, “because it’s our turn.”
Iran’s unprovoked attack on U.S. troops, which took place late Tuesday Eastern time, shattered a brief ceasefire, after both sides paused strikes on Friday in order to give negotiators a chance to hammer out an arrangement for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump team had hoped those talks, which collapsed on Tuesday , would cool tempers and juice negotiations for a broader agreement. Iran carried out its attacks on Jordan hours after the end of the discussions.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the Iranians had been pleading with him not to retaliate in the hours after the attack, “but they nevertheless took a shot” and now “know it is coming.” A counterstrike was inevitable, he said: “Will I always hit back? Pretty much.”
A plume of smoke rises after reported strikes, from Qeshm, Iran, July 30, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Social Media/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. NEWS USE ONLY. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Verification lines : Reuters confirmed the location from terrain, road layout, vegetation, shape and location of smoke that matched archive and satellite images and corroborating footage verified by Reuters. Date of the footage was confirmed by official and media report of strike on Qeshm island. Tasnim News Agency reported early on Thursday that explosions were heard and a residential area was hit by missile on Qeshm island. No older version found posted online before July 30.
While Tuesday’s Iranian missile attack was successfully intercepted, the barrage intensified pressure on the president to respond and threatened to once again restart hostilities as the war with Iran enters its sixth month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on Wednesday as the Trump administration weighed its next move.
In a White House meeting on Tuesday, Trump and Netanyahu did what a senior Israeli official called a clinical review of three strategies toward Iran: a diplomatic agreement, intensifying economic pressure and ramping up the blockade, or renewing military action. U.S. and Israeli officials weighed costs and timelines for each.
Smoke rises following explosion at an unknown location, during what U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) says are strikes on Iran, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on July 29, 2026. U.S. Central Command/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. OVERLAY AND MASKING FROM SOURCE. VERIFICATION: -Location and date could not be verified -No earlier version of the video found posted online before Wednesday (July 29) REFILE – CORRECTING DAY ON THE VERIFICATION NOTES FROM “THURSDAY” TO “WEDNESDAY”.
Netanyahu didn’t express a preference for any of the options and told Trump it was his decision, the Israeli official said. He told Trump that diplomacy could be pursued alongside greater economic pressure such as restricting Iran’s overland trade routes while negotiations continue.
Hours after the Iranian strikes on Jordan, the U.S. military said that American and Saudi aircraft launched strikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq.
Write to Lara Seligman at lara.seligman@wsj.com , Philip Wegmann at philip.wegmann@wsj.com and Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@wsj.com
