The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Tuesday evening, July 16, that American forces, in a new round of retaliatory strikes, targeted more than 80 military sites of the Islamic Republic with precisely guided munitions. According to CENTCOM, the operation targeted air defense systems, command-and-control centers, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 small vessels of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. CENTCOM emphasized that the objective of the operation is to reduce the Islamic Republic’s ability to attack international shipping and to preserve freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.