The latest US attacks began at about 1.30pm local time, following a series of bombing raids over the last week that largely took place at night.

US Central Command (Centcom) said the operation struck coastal defence systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier this morning, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched missiles at US military facilities in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain in retaliation.

Iranian state media said logistics, fuel and military equipment facilities used by the US navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain were among the targets.

Both sides are largely limiting attacks to coastal regions, but overnight Donald Trump renewed threats to target Iranian infrastructure if Tehran did not return to negotiations.

“Next week it gets really bad for them. We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” the US president said.

Mr Trump also reversed his plan to impose a 20 per cent toll on vessels passing through the strait, but maintained the US naval blockade of the waterway, triggering a sharp rise in oil prices.