US Central Command will be busy tonight, Hegseth has claimed barely a day after Wednesday strikes over helicopter incident

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that US Central Command "will be busy tonight," signaling that Washington is preparing further strikes against Iran barely a day after launching attacks over the reported downing of an American helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

"Because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard - and we will be," Hegseth told reporters.

The Pentagon chief said the strikes would target "key facilities" in Iran, without specifying which sites would be hit. He claimed the attacks would be "strong" and "clear," while adding that Tehran "has an opportunity to make a deal" with Washington.

Hegseth also claimed that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz and, without providing evidence, said Washington has been "able to bring oil in and out" of the strategic waterway for "weeks and weeks."

The remarks came after the US said on Wednesday that it had launched strikes in Iran in response to what it described as the downing of an American AH-64 Apache attack helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said Trump had ordered "self-defense strikes... in response to yesterday's downing of a US Army Apache helicopter."

Iranian broadcaster Press TV reported that several projectiles struck the strategic island of Qeshm near the narrowest part of the Strait of Hormuz, which hosts a military base and a key oil terminal. Strikes were also reported in other parts of Iran's southern Hormozgan Province.

Iran later conducted retaliatory missile strikes on American-linked military sites in Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait.

RT will be providing live updates on the developments.

(RT.com)