OAN Staff Addie Davis
7:25 AM – Thursday, June 11, 2026
President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be hitting Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT” amid continued hostility in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Iran shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter, though the crew members were safely rescued, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed. This prompted retaliatory strikes by American forces against Iran.
Following “self-defense strikes” it conducted on Tuesday, CENTCOM again announced it had carried out attacks on Iran on Wednesday at the direction of the president. These targets encompassed “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran.” The command claimed they were “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
The Islamic Republic responded to these U.S. strikes by attacking regional neighbors, with the Associated Press reporting hostilities directed against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
Trump’s Thursday morning pronouncement appears to be an escalation of the hostilities of the past few days.
“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” the commander-in-chief posted to Truth Social.
He further emphasized his plans for future action against oil infrastructure sites in Iran, with the U.S. ultimately assuming control.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America,” he continued.
On their Arabic-language X account, the Kuwait Army reported on Thursday that 24 drones had entered the country’s airspace in the past two days, though it said they resulted in limited damage and no loss of life.
Since the beginning of Iranian hostilities, it claimed that more than 1,200 Iranian air attack assets had been deployed in the Gulf nation’s airspace, including cruise and ballistic missiles and nearly 900 drones.
The Bahrain Defence Force acknowledged Iranian attacks against their country and condemned them on their Arabic-language X account. According to a translation of their statement, their air defenses intercepted a number of the hostile air assets.
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