WASHINGTON — The conflict between the United States and Iran has escalated sharply, with American forces carrying out a fresh wave of strikes and the Iranians saying they have retaliated.

U.S. Central Command said in a Tuesday evening statement that the targets in the now-completed operation included “air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine laying capabilities, and communications sites” associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members,” Central Command added in the statement posted on X.

President Donald Trump said the strikes were in retaliation for Iran trying to put mines in the strait and for an earlier assault on a military base. He warned of more attacks if Tehran responded.

Within hours, however, Iran said its forces had launched a “decisive operation” against U.S. bases in the region, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Tehran said it fired missiles at an American base in Jordan.

Oil prices rose further on news of the strikes, with WTI crude surging above $90 a barrel. European natural gas benchmark futures surged to their highest since January 2023. The latest escalation came a day after the first exchange of strikes between the two sides in about a month.

The renewed conflict followed weeks of relative calm, during which the Trump administration said it was pivoting from military action to applying economic measures against Tehran. Oil shipments through Hormuz recovered to roughly half of pre-war levels as a result of the dip in attacks, thanks in part to clandestine shuttle runs from major Middle East producers.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at the G-20 finance ministers summit in Asheville on Tuesday that Iran’s leaders were “panicked” over the country’s economic problems and predicted at some point they would be ready to negotiate an accord to end the war.

Any sustained return to fighting risks driving up energy costs and inflation, unnerving global investors and further complicating Republicans’ efforts to retain control of the U.S. Congress in November’s midterm elections.

For Iran, a resumption in near prewar shipping volumes risks undermining its leverage in any future peace negotiations.

Explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, Chabahar and Kuhestak in southern Iran, state-run Nour news reported Tuesday. IRIB reported that at least two civilians were killed in Hormozgan.

U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, said he anticipated further escalation of the fighting after a closed-door briefing with a top military commander Tuesday.

“There’s a plan,” he told reporters, without elaborating.

There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. of the Iranian claims of attacks on the base in Jordan, though local media reported air defenses intercepted incoming missiles. Jordan, a U.S. ally, has increasingly become a target of Tehran’s retaliation, with two American service members killed there in an attack in July.

The latest U.S. strikes came a day after two oil supertankers attempting to exit the strait were hit in quick succession by projectiles, maritime security consultant Marisks said. While no one claimed responsibility for the tanker attacks, the reports followed a resumption of tit-for-tat strikes between the U.S. and Iran over control of the choke point.

On Monday, the U.S. said it targeted Iranian rocket launchers that were preparing to send mines into the strait, and Iran retaliated with attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Bessent sought to play down the importance of Hormuz earlier on Tuesday, saying the strait would eventually become irrelevant because of the increased use of oil pipelines. The comment appeared not to take into account the time needed to effect such a major switch in energy supply routes, while other key commodities, including aluminum and fertilizer, would still need to use the strait.

The U.S. and Iran have issued conflicting reports on safety of navigation in the strait, with a top U.S. commander declaring “international shipping lanes are open” after American forces had cleared Iranian mines. That statement, which followed similar claims from Trump, has been privately doubted by U.S. allies, Bloomberg reported last week.

On Monday, Trump called the conflict a “little war.” Even so, there’s no sign of an imminent resolution, and oil is up more than 45% since the start of the year.

The State Department issued a regional security alert Tuesday warning Americans in the region about the “complex” environment and “the potential of unforeseen escalation.”

The U.S. and Iran have shown little appetite to resume negotiations since the collapse of an interim peace agreement signed more than two months ago.

Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian was downbeat about the prospect of a resumption in formal talks.

Qatar said on Tuesday that mediation efforts to break the impasse were ongoing.

Pezeshkian’s appearance at the SCO came over a week after the U.S. began a campaign to further isolate Iran, warning countries not to engage with the Islamic Republic or face punishment from Washington. There’s been little sign of Iran’s business or trade partners responding to the threat so far, and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among SCO attendees saying they wanted to strengthen relations.

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(With assistance from Weilun Soon, Roxana Tiron and John Harney.)

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