The United States launched new strikes against multiple targets overnight in Iran, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump vowed even more attacks if no peace deal is secured.

The ​military’s Central Command announced the strikes were complete about four hours after they began shortly after midnight in Tehran, saying in a post on X that the targets included “military surveillance capabilities, communication ‌systems, and air defense sites across Iran.”

“The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” Central Command said, Reuters reported.

The attacks were the latest development in an escalating exchange of strikes that threatens to reignite a full-scale war, which was paused in early April when the two sides agreed to a fragile ceasefire.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early on Thursday they had launched counter-attacks on 18 U.S. military targets at airbases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and Bahrain’s interior ministry said sirens were sounded.

Iran’s top joint military command also warned it would ​fire on any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed for months. Iranian media reported that two ships were fired upon.

U.S. Central Command denied that the strait was closed, ​saying commercial ships were still transiting the strait despite Iran’s threats. Trump said earlier in the day that vessels have been crossing the strait without Iran’s permission as part ⁠of a clandestine military mission.

Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Wednesday evening that the strikes would stop shortly but that he would “bomb the shit out of them” if Iran’s leaders did not sign an agreement with the ​U.S. immediately, Yingst wrote on X.

Iranian news agencies reported explosions in several cities, including Sirik, Kargan, Bandar Abbas, Minab, Varamin and Karaj.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presented the move as an effort to force Iran into a deal to end ​the conflict, telling reporters during a visit to Central Command in Florida that the strikes would “advance our military interests and also enhance our diplomatic position.”

“We will strike them hard tonight, and hopefully Iran makes a good decision,” he said. “If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs.”

The United States and Iran have traded fire several times since the tentative ceasefire took hold, even as negotiators have unsuccessfully sought an end to the war, now in its fourth month. Trump has repeatedly said a deal is close, though there has ​been no sign of a breakthrough, while also threatening to resume bombing.

The U.S. military earlier targeted air defenses and radar sites around the Strait of Hormuz after a U.S. attack helicopter was downed near the strategic waterway on Monday. ​Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. A U.S. official said there was no significant damage.

Iran accused the U.S. of striking reservoirs that supplied drinking water to 10 villages and violating international law.

“This is not collateral ‌damage — it is ⁠a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghei said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump, who has threatened before to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure, did not say whether the coming strikes would target power plants and bridges.

Despite the belligerent language from both sides, there were signs of continuing diplomatic efforts.

A delegation from Qatar, which has been mediating between the United States and Iran, landed in Tehran on Wednesday to hold talks on the latest developments, Iranian media reported.

TRUMP CLAIMS A SECRET MISSION

The war has killed thousands and disrupted roughly one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, sending prices sharply higher. Iran has blocked traffic through the ​Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. has maintained its ​own blockade on Iranian ports.

The conflict has become a ⁠political headache for the White House, with public polls showing Trump’s approval ratings sinking amid voter anger over high gasoline prices. Some Republicans have openly worried the war’s unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

Oil prices rose nearly $3 following Trump’s threat of escalation, and extended gains in early Asian trade on Thursday.

Trump told reporters at the ​White House on Wednesday that vessels carrying 100 million barrels of oil have defied Iran to travel through the strait as part of a secret military mission.

Hegseth ​said ships have been transiting the ⁠strait “in the middle of the night, protected by the United States in a way that Iran can’t stop, they can’t see it.”

Separately, the U.S. military said it disabled an oil tanker transporting Iranian crude in the Gulf of Oman on Tuesday for a second consecutive day.

FIGHTING IN LEBANON CONTINUES

Fighting in a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has continued. Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, while Hezbollah claimed fresh attacks against ⁠Israeli forces.

Tehran’s demands ​include an end to Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets, ​and recognition of its control of the strait.

Trump says Iran must end its restrictions on shipping through Hormuz. He also says any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies any such ambition.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a U.S.-backed resolution on Wednesday telling Iran ​to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them. Iran branded the resolution as “political”.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended pending a vote by member states on his fate, the court’s governing ​body said on Monday, following a probe into accusations of sexual harassment made against him.

A diplomatic source ​briefed on the decision told Reuters the court’s governing body’s executive bureau has ruled ⁠Khan had committed serious misconduct following an 18-month-long probe into accusations that the prosecutor had non-consensual sexual interactions with ​a lawyer in his office. The source added that the bureau has recommended the prosecutor should be removed from ​office, Reuters reported.

The ICC’s governing body will send its conclusion on to all 125 ICC member states which will vote on Khan’s fate in a special session convened at a later date.

In its press release, the bureau said it had made a decision on the ​disciplinary proceedings against Khan and referred the matter to the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties, but did not give ​details about what it decided.

“The decision of the Bureau and the related documentation will remain confidential,” the press release said.

Khan’s lawyers ‌said ⁠in a statement that he rejected the decision in the strongest terms, and repeated he denies any wrongdoing. “The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence,” the statement said.

The International Criminal Court has been thrust into crisis by the investigations into Khan — its most prominent official — as well as by U.S. sanctions over the court’s actions, including arrest ​warrants for Israeli officials for ​alleged war crimes.

Khan has ⁠not been at the helm of the ICC office of the prosecutor since last May when he took a voluntary leave of absence pending the outcome of the ​inquiry. He is the first ICC prosecutor to be formally suspended from his role ​by the ⁠court’s oversight body.

Sources told Reuters earlier that a report by United Nations investigators found a “factual basis” for the allegations of sexual misconduct made by a female aide and that witness accounts “lend support to her claims”.

However, a second report by three ⁠judges ​that analysed the U.N. report found the evidence insufficient to establish ​the truth of the allegations “beyond a reasonable doubt”, they added.

Lawyers for Khan had told Reuters that the judges unanimously concluded that the “factual findings do ​not establish misconduct or breach of duty.”

At least 15 people were feared dead in ​the southern Philippines on Monday after a powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the island of Mindanao, triggering tsunami warnings across several countries.

The quake came early in ‌the morning as schools were reopening in the Philippines after a long break, with the tremors felt strongly in a dozen provinces and 420 km (261 miles) away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, Reuters reported.

Tsunami alerts were issued in the southern Philippines, northern Indonesia and the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island after the quake with an epicentre located about 20 km (12.4 miles) off Mindanao’s Sarangani province.

Philippine authorities were assessing the ​damage from the quake, with the office of civil defence seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from ​falling debris.

‘WE WILL NOT LEAVE MINDANAO BEHIND,’ PRESIDENT SAYS

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered an immediate disaster response in Mindanao, an island the size of ⁠South Korea, with agencies directed to prepare relief supplies and evacuation centres and be ready for possible rescue operations.

“The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” he said in ​a statement.

It comes eight months after the Philippines suffered its deadliest tremor in 12 years when a shallow 6.9 magnitude quake hit off the island of Cebu, killing 79 people. Two powerful quakes struck Mindanao ​two weeks later, the strongest at a magnitude 7.4.

The Philippines and Indonesia experience hundreds of quakes each year and sit on tectonically complex parts of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a seismically active belt stretching from South America to the Russian Far East.

The Philippine seismology agency said at least nine strong aftershocks were felt across Mindanao on Monday morning, the highest at a magnitude 6.7.

The full extent of the damage was not yet clear and authorities said ​assessments were underway.

Video shared by the local government in General Santos, a city of about 700,000 people, showed the collapse of a building housing a fast food restaurant, with panicked onlookers fleeing ​as a cloud of dust spread quickly through the air.

One General Santos hospital was evacuated due to concerns about cracks on higher floors, while one of the buildings at the city’s Notre Dame of Dadiangas ‌University collapsed, but ⁠no one was inside.

“I had to duck and shelter myself under the table. And it was very long and strong,” the university’s president Manuel de Leon told broadcaster DZMM.

Images from authorities in Sarangani province showed damaged shop fronts with collapsed signs, smashed windows and piles of rocks from crumbled concrete.

MILITARY DEPLOYED, MALAYSIA OFFERS ASSISTANCE

The Philippine military said its disaster response units had been deployed to affected areas.

A video shared by a local school the moment the quake struck showed a large group of children sitting on the floor swaying rapidly from side to side, some hugging teachers, before fleeing en ​masse as a makeshift shelter collapsed behind them.

Benjie ​Ancheta, police chief of Sarangani’s Alabel town, ⁠said the quake occurred during a police flag-raising ceremony, causing some people to faint.

“This is the strongest earthquake we’ve experienced,” Ancheta said by phone.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his government was ready to assist the Philippines.

“I pray for the safety and wellbeing of all those affected, wishing them ​strength and courage in the difficult days ahead,” Anwar posted on X.

INDONESIAN ISLANDERS MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said multiple countries ​could be affected and ⁠Australia initially warned of potential tsunami waves on its northern coasts. Japan’s meteorological agency issued an advisory and said a tsunami of 0.2 m or lower had been observed, with some disruption to ferries and precautionary beach closures.

Witnesses in Indonesia’s Manado said they felt the quake strongly. Only minor damage was reported, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency.

A tsunami with a wave height up to 0.75 m ⁠was detected in ​some regions in North Sulawesi, where people started moving to safer areas, including residents of the remote Sangihe Islands, ​among the closest to the Philippines.

“They are now evacuating to the higher ground… away from the coast, to avoid the potential tsunami,” resident Jufry Dalita said, according to state news agency Antara.