IRGC says Iran has begun response to US attacks

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has launched a retaliatory response to recent US attacks on Iranian targets, warning that Washington will face consequences for its military action.

The IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran's state broadcaster IRIB that US forces had carried out what it described as "blind and desperate attacks" against several locations in southern Iran, including areas it said were civilian.

According to the statement, the attacks had further tightened restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz and strengthened the resolve of Iranian forces to confront foreign military involvement in the strategic waterway.

"The brave warriors of the IRGC have begun a regretful response to the aggressors," the statement said.

The IRGC also claimed that Iranian forces had used a newly developed air-defence system to shoot down a US MQ-9 drone, which it described as the 50th advanced American drone destroyed during the conflict.

The claim could not be independently verified.

The latest warning comes amid a sharp escalation between Washington and Tehran following fresh US military strikes on Iranian targets linked by the United States to Iran's activities around the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on American forces in the region. US President Donald Trump has warned Iran against retaliation, saying any further Iranian attacks would trigger a stronger American response.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly threatened to retaliate against US military operations and have described the American strikes as acts of aggression.

The confrontation has heightened concerns over the security of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important energy shipping routes, with the continuing military exchanges raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

The latest IRGC statement signals that Tehran intends to respond militarily to the US campaign, increasing the risk of further escalation between the two countries.