Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has begun striking US military bases and facilities in retaliation for American airstrikes

Iran launched retaliatory strikes against US military facilities in the Middle East on Tuesday (local time) in response to new American airstrikes on the country.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement that day, describing the US strikes on Iran's southern coast as "an act of desperation" and announcing it had begun a forceful retaliatory campaign.

"Our brave warriors have already launched a punishing response that will leave the aggressors with bitter regret," the IRGC said, adding that as a first measure it had deployed a new air defense system to shoot down what it claimed was the 50th US MQ-9 drone.

The IRGC also said US forces had "recklessly bombed" multiple locations along Iran's southern coast, including civilian sites, but insisted the attacks would only "strengthen the security of the Strait of Hormuz and deepen our warriors' resolve to suppress foreign interference in the strait."

Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that "Iran's decisive military operation targeting the United States has begun," saying Iranian missiles and drones were striking US military bases and key facilities in the region.

Earlier, US Central Command announced on X, formerly Twitter, that "US forces began striking IRGC targets at noon Eastern time."

According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB and other outlets, explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas — home to a major southern port — as well as on Qeshm Island and Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, and in Assaluyeh, a key natural gas hub.

The broadcaster also reported that a civilian airport in Jiroft, in southeastern Iran, had been struck.

In Hormozgan Province, a residential home hosting a wedding was hit, killing at least two people and wounding several others, the province's deputy governor said.