The US struck military targets on Kharg Island overnight as President Donald Trump said “a whole civilisation will die tonight”.
A US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, described at least some of the strikes as targeting sites that had been previously struck before and said the attack occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
The strikes did not target oil facilities, according to the US official.
Speaking in Budapest, US Vice President JD Vance said the strikes were not a change in US strategy, with the Trump administration confident that it can get a response from Iran by 8 pm (7 am Wednesday Bangkok time) in negotiations to end the conflict.
President Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit waterway.
“We were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island, and I believe we have done so," Vance said.
"We're not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don't make a proposal," he added. "I don't think the news in Kharg Island ... represents a change in strategy, or represents any change from the President of the United States”.
Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social, warning: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again".
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, proposed by Bahrain and backed by several Arab states on the Persian Gulf, to pave the way for the use of military force to ensure freedom of navigation through the critical waterway.
Russia and China reportedly blocked the draft by exercising their veto power.
