by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – The United States launched retaliatory strikes against Iranian military facilities Thursday night after three U.S. Navy destroyers came under attack while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command.
CENTCOM confirmed that the guided-missile destroyers USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta, and USS Mason were targeted by Iranian missiles, drones, and small attack boats while moving through the strategic waterway into the Gulf of Oman.
“U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes,” CENTCOM stated, adding that no American assets were damaged during the confrontation.
According to the military command, American forces destroyed incoming threats and carried out strikes against Iranian missile and drone launch sites, command centers, radar systems, and intelligence facilities believed to be responsible for coordinating the attacks.
U.S. officials said the strikes targeted military positions on Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Garuk, and additional coastal locations along the Strait of Hormuz. The targets reportedly included drone launch sites, coastal defense cruise missile batteries, and radar installations.
President Donald Trump responded forcefully on Truth Social, declaring that the Iranian attackers suffered “great damage” while praising the crews of the American destroyers.
“Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire,” Trump wrote. “There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers.”
Trump said Iranian small boats were “completely destroyed” and described incoming drones being “incinerated while in the air.”
The president sharply criticized Iran’s leadership, warning that Tehran would face far more severe military action if it failed to quickly reach a nuclear agreement with Washington.
“A normal Country would have allowed these Destroyers to pass, but Iran is not a normal Country,” Trump wrote. “They are led by lunatics, and if they had the chance to use a Nuclear Weapon, they would do it, without question.”
Speaking later at the White House, Trump reiterated that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon” and described the latest military exchange as “a love tap,” while insisting the current cease-fire arrangement with Tehran technically remains in place.
The confrontation comes only days after Trump halted “Project Freedom,” a U.S. military initiative designed to reopen shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz and escort commercial vessels through the increasingly dangerous corridor.
Iranian state media claimed the attacks were retaliation for an earlier U.S. action against an Iranian oil tanker near the port city of Jask. Iranian officials accused Washington of violating the temporary cease-fire reached on April 7.
Despite ongoing diplomatic discussions surrounding a proposed 30-day halt in hostilities, Thursday’s exchange marked one of the most dangerous direct military confrontations between the United States and Iran in recent weeks.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with a significant portion of global oil shipments passing through the narrow waterway each day. Escalating conflict in the region continues to raise fears of broader instability across the Middle East and disruptions to international energy markets.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A Ukrainian man was detained Wednesday in Croatia over the 2022 undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, authorities said, a development that raised questions over Ukraine’s role in the attack against key infrastructure of European allies.
A new U.S. Census Bureau analysis has identified more than 24,000 people who voted in the 2020 general election as noncitizens at the time they cast their ballots, prompting President Donald Trump to renew his call for stricter election-integrity laws.
The Trump administration has cleared the final judicial obstacle blocking its campaign to terminate Temporary Protected Status for migrants from a series of countries, potentially ending deportation protections for roughly one million people, according to The Washington Times.
Indonesia’s 81st Independence Day was overshadowed by grief as the death toll from the weekend’s massive earthquake rose to at least 68 and thousands were still awaiting aid on the hard-hit Indonesian island of Flores.
Ukraine faced another night of potentially deadly strikes as it struggled to defend itself after Russia and Ukraine traded some of their most intense aerial attacks of the war, with at least 10 civilians reported killed in northeastern Ukraine and hundreds of Ukrainian drones targeting Russia.
Nuclear material has been discovered in Syria and placed under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, reviving attention on a clandestine nuclear program that Israel destroyed nearly two decades ago.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on a growing national battle over whether states may require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public-school classrooms, potentially setting the stage for a major First Amendment ruling.