US air strikes in Iran mark escalation in conflict, Axios reports

US air strikes have begun inside Iran in what Axios, citing a US official, described as a significant escalation in the US-Iran conflict, with reported targets including command centers and air defense systems aimed at reducing Tehran’s ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. New reporting from Axios said President Donald Trump is seriously considering large-scale strikes within days on Iran’s energy and infrastructure facilities to pressure Tehran into accepting US ceasefire terms, and that Israeli forces could join the operation for the first time in weeks if the attacks proceed, raising the risk of Iranian missile strikes on Israel. CBS News and The Wall Street Journal had previously reported on possible strikes on Iranian energy targets. Trump said at a White House meeting, “We will hit them very hard,” adding that intensified US strikes would weaken Iran until it “can’t take it anymore,” while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US would prevail and that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon during Trump’s term. The latest threats followed Iranian attacks last Wednesday on a US military base in Jordan and other US forces in the region, as well as Thursday attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Trump had previously warned that any new attack on ships would trigger US airstrikes on major Iranian infrastructure, including power plants and bridges in Tehran. Tasnim News Agency, citing a senior Iranian security official, said any such strike would be insane and that Iran had prepared a broad retaliation plan targeting key infrastructure of the “Zionist regime” in the region, as well as US energy facilities.