CENTCOM: We Began a New Round of Airstrikes Against Iran

U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM, announced in several statements and reposts on X that it had begun a new round of airstrikes or new attacks against Iran. These reports said the strikes began at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and that at the same time U.S. forces were preparing to resume a naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas. In some sources, this blockade is said to take effect at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, equal to 11:30 p.m. Tehran time, and some headlines also referred to it as “entering the implementation phase.” Various sources also explained that the stated aim of the strikes was to weaken Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

• CENTCOM, in a statement reflected by several media outlets, took responsibility for launching a new round of attacks against Iran and said they began at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
• IRNA reported that CENTCOM had announced the start of “another round of aggression and attacks on Iranian territory,” while other sources used the phrases “attacks against Iran” or “airstrikes.”
• Fars, Akharin Khabar, and Radio Farda explicitly reported that CENTCOM described the attacks as aimed at “weakening” Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
• In the accounts by Fars and Akharin Khabar, U.S. forces were simultaneously preparing to “resume a naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas.”
• Entekhab, Khabar Fori, and Radio Farda said the naval blockade was scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and Etemad24 converted that to 11:30 p.m. Iran time.
• In their headlines, Akharin Khabar and Fars reported the “start of a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz” or the “start of a U.S. naval blockade against Iran,” but in the text quoted from CENTCOM, the move was described as “preparing to resume the blockade.”
• Jamaran covered the report under the title “the terrorist organization CENTCOM” and quoted the body as claiming that a new round of airstrikes against Iran had begun.
• Mehr News also reported that CENTCOM had issued a statement announcing the start of “a new round of airstrikes against Iran.”
• Young Journalists Club wrote that CENTCOM had admitted to “a new round of attacks against Iran” and had also spoken of a “naval blockade.”
• Khabar Fori, Entekhab, and Etemad24 emphasized in their reposts that the report was based on “CENTCOM’s claim” and presented it as a direct quotation from the body’s statement or message.
• In one repost by Khabar Fori, in addition to the claim that a naval blockade had begun, it was stated that more than 20 warships and hundreds of American fighter jets had been deployed in the Middle East and that the forces…