US Targets Iran’s Coastal Missile Bases Near Hormuz with High-Impact Bunker Buster Strikes

Tehran: In the first significant step to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US military announced that it had struck Iranian missile positions near the key waterway with some of the most powerful bombs in its arsenal. The US Central Command announced that it had launched numerous 5,000-pound (2,268-kg) deep penetrator bombs on hardened Iranian missile locations along Iran’s coastline near the Strait.

US Bombs Strait of Hormuz

“US forces successfully used 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions against hardened Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz,” Central Command stated on X.The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles at these locations constituted a threat to foreign ships in the strait.

Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the… pic.twitter.com/hgCSFH0cqO

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 17, 2026

The bombing strike came after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, which transports one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, in response for the US and Israel’s war on the country. The chokehold has severely affected maritime commerce and resulted in a global increase in energy prices.

US Allies Rejected Trump’s Call

The US move came after most of its partners, including NATO, rejected President Donald Trump’s calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz in order to ease a blockade on the region’s oil exports. Trump complained about his inability to mobilise support for his preferred war in Iran, but argued that he was fighting for the welfare of the world, even if the world did not recognise his efforts.

He fumed that the US is not receiving backing “despite the fact that we helped” NATO “so much,” and claimed that it was in the allies’ best interests to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Also reads : Flights Suspended at Dubai International Airport After Drone Attack Triggers Fuel Tank Blaze

Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, such as energy generation, and has no plans to produce weapons.You would have expected them to say, ‘We’d love to send a couple of minesweepers.’ “That’s not a big deal,” Trump stated. “It’s not very expensive. “But they did not do that.”

While expressing disdain against traditional US friends, Trump insisted that he is ‘comfortable’ with the conflict’s hardening dynamic, which, for better or worse, will fall primarily on his shoulders.

For months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been pushing him in this direction, but Trump has been arguing more and more that one individual picked the path toward violence. It began because of what Trump called a “feeling” about the danger Iran represented, and he has stated that it will cease when his intuition tells him it is time.

Deep penetrator bombs weighing about 5,000 pounds

The 30,000-pound bombs delivered by the United States against Iranian nuclear sites last year are still more potent than the “bunker buster” bombs, which cost an estimated $288,000 apiece, according to an Air Force Times report in 2022.

These are employed to attack hardened or deeply underground targets.