Explosions were reportedly heard in southern Iran as US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that US forces had started to carry out air strikes in Iran on Thursday morning.
Several locations in southern Iran were targeted by US forces, with explosions heard in the cities of Bushehr, Abu Musa, Kish Island, Ahwaz, and Qeshm Island, Iranian state media Press TV reported.
The strikes were carried out in response to "yesterday's attempted Iranian attacks on US forces based in the Middle East," CENTCOM said in a post on X/Twitter.
The Deputy Governor of the Hormozgan province in southern Iran said that the US was attacking areas surrounding Qeshm Island, with Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reporting that three explosions were heard on the island.
A residential area on Qeshm Island was hit by a US missile strike, Tasnim reported.
Tasnim also reported explosions in the city of Kazerun in southern Iran.
A US official told Fox News that the ongoing strikes involve "a very broad target set."
Iranian strikes on US bases in the Middle East
The strikes follow Iranian attacks on US bases in the Middle East on Wednesday morning.
Jordanian air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran, a state news agency reported.
Hours earlier, Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles towards US military bases across the Middle East, CENTCOM confirmed in a post on X.
"IRGC forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East," the post explained.
The IRGC "fired ballistic missiles at US air bases and US military Central Command center in Jordan," Iran's Revolutionary Guards told Iranian state media on Wednesday.