U.S. says 2,000 targets hit as Iran retaliates across Gulf

U.S. strikes Iran as tensions escalate; military claims 2,000 targets hit amid rising energy prices and regional conflict.

, March 4, 2026 (AFP) - Israel early Wednesday (March 4, 2026) launched new attacks on Iran as the U.S. military said it has hit nearly 2,000 targets inside the Islamic republic, which tried to impose a cost by expanding a missile and drone barrage across the region.

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With global energy prices on the rise, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint into the Gulf that Iran has threatened to seal off.

Israel's military said it launched a "broad wave of strikes" after midnight across Iran, which in the hours before had launched three separate missile barrages at Israel, causing mild injuries to a woman in Tel Aviv.

The U.S. military has hit nearly 2,000 targets since attacking Iran alongside Israel on Saturday (February 28, 2026), targeting ballistic missiles and "all the things that can shoot at us", said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command.

"These forces bring a massive amount of firepower, representing the largest buildup by the U.S. in the Middle East in a generation," he said in a video message, describing the first day's barrage as bigger than the so-called "shock and awe" against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003.