The United States launched new strikes against multiple targets overnight in Iran, the US 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.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 US 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.US 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 US immediately, Yingst wrote on X.Iranian news agencies reported explosions in several cities, including Sirik, Kargan, Bandar Abbas, Minab, Varamin and Karaj.US Defence 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.