Iran responds to U.S. new strikes with warning, military readiness

Iran's top diplomat warned the United States on Wednesday that no attack or threat would go unanswered, as the country's armed forces have reached their highest level of combat readiness in response to a new round of U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post published on social media platform X, "our powerful armed forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered. Leave our region if you want to be safe."

The warning came after the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Tuesday that U.S. forces had launched "defensive" strikes against Iran at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump, in response to the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter the previous day. A U.S. official said the strikes targeted multiple Iranian air defense and radar systems around the Strait of Hormuz.

The strikes started at 17:00 U.S. Eastern Time (2100 GMT), CENTCOM wrote on X. Later Wednesday, CENTCOM announced it had concluded the strikes, bringing the operation to an end.

On Tuesday, Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that Iran's armed forces had reached their highest level of combat and defensive readiness, with damage already repaired.

He added that Iranian forces were fully prepared to respond to any aggression at the highest level.

Iran's Ministry of Defense also issued a statement Tuesday, vowing to increase the production of military equipment, weapons and systems to safeguard the country's security, independence and territorial integrity. The ministry said it would continue to enhance deterrence and strengthen defense capabilities, and would not allow any enemy to cause even the slightest damage to Iran's security.

Early Wednesday, explosions were reported in southern Iran's Hormozgan Province, including the port city of Sirik, the city of Minab.

On the same day, an Iraqi militia-affiliated group reported that Iranian drones had flown over Iraqi airspace and struck U.S. targets.

Separately, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said Tuesday that the Israeli military remains ready to resume operations against Iran at any time, adding that all Israeli defense and offensive systems are on alert.

Iran responds to U.S. new strikes with warning, military readiness

The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2 has risen to 3,666, with 11,321 others wounded, as Israeli strikes and shelling across the country continued, according to data released by Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday.

The latest update comes as fresh violence continued on Tuesday, with at least 16 people killed and dozens injured in a wave of Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese sources.

The deadliest attack targeted a residential area in the southern city of Tyre, where eight people were killed and 32 others were wounded, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) and local search and rescue officials.

Elsewhere, six people were killed in separate drone strikes in the Nabatieh region, including four in a pre-dawn attack on the town of Kfar Remmen. In another incident, two Syrian nationals were killed in a preliminary toll from a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the area between the towns of Ansariyeh and Adloun.

Lebanon's Civil Defense Directorate said two of its personnel sustained minor injuries when a drone strike hit an area in the town of Sharqiya while they were responding to an earlier attack on a vehicle.

The continued violence comes despite a ceasefire agreement reached on June 3 following trilateral negotiations in Washington involving Lebanon, Israel, and the United States.

Lebanon death toll climbs to 3,666 as Israeli strikes continue