The United States military launched retaliatory strikes against Iran Wednesday evening in response to Iranian attacks a day earlier, U.S. Central Command said, as the return to hostilities in the region threatened to plunge more of the Middle East into war.

CENTCOM announced the first round of strikes against Iran at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, saying the attacks were “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces based in the Middle East.” U.S. forces said they had completed the “heavy wave of strikes” by 10 p.m. ET.

The exchange of hostilities marked the latest escalation in the monthslong confrontation between Washington and Tehran, which has appeared to widen in recent days as Iran targets U.S.-allied Gulf countries in the region. Jordan on Thursday said it had intercepted Iranian missiles, while Kuwait reported one person was dead following a drone strike in the northern part of the country.

Authorities in Egypt said a drone of unidentified origin caused an explosion at a port in the northeastern African country on Wednesday, marking the first time the country has been attacked during the U.S.-Iran war.

After U.S. and Saudi forces launched joint precision airstrikes against logistics and weapons sites used by the Iran-backed militias in eastern Iraq, Saudi Arabia formally acknowledged that it, too, has become directly involved in the conflict. The joint strikes followed an attempted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile attack Tuesday night.

The U.S. strikes Wednesday were aimed at dozens of IRGC targets across Iran, including “military command centers, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defense sites, and maritime capabilities,” according to CENTCOM.

“The strikes aimed to further diminish threats posed by Iran and its proxies to American forces, commercial shipping, and neighboring Gulf countries,” CENTCOM said late Wednesday.

Iran’s IRGC launched multiple ballistic missiles Tuesday in what U.S. forces described as an attempted “surprise attack.” All of the missiles were intercepted, and no casualties were immediately reported.

U.S. officials alleged the targeted sites in eastern Iraq had been used to support attacks on American forces and Saudi energy infrastructure. However, Iraq’s military spokesperson said there is no evidence that recent attacks in the region, including those aimed at Saudi Arabia, were launched from Iraqi territory.

President Donald Trump had signaled earlier Wednesday that military action was imminent, telling reporters that Iran should expect a forceful response.

“We’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “They know it’s coming.”

Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen since last month, according to an AP-NORC poll released Thursday, in which most Americans surveyed said the Iran war is not worth fighting. “Even Republicans appear to be increasingly unhappy with the prolonged conflict,” The Associated Press reported on its poll. “Roughly 61% of Republicans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, an apparent decline from 71% in June. The margin of sampling error for Republicans is 6 points, so the decline is considered slight, but it’s still noteworthy given Republicans’ much higher approval of how Trump is handling the presidency overall.”

High gas prices amid the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil export route that has become a major focus of the conflict, and climbing wartime inflation have put a squeeze on Americans’ wallets months ahead of the midterm elections.

The president’s overall approval rating fell to 33%, the lowest point of his second term, according to the poll. Approval ratings on his handling of the economy have also plummeted, according to separate polls published this week from CNN and Quinnipiac.

Prior to the fresh round of skirmishing, both the U.S. and Iran had temporarily halted attacks as mediators sought to bring both sides back to the negotiating table and revive the fragile ceasefire.

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