U.S. Central Command said Sunday afternoon it launched retaliatory strikes against Iran after Tehran attacked multiple Gulf states earlier Sunday and fired at vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

“At 5 p.m. E.T today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a statement. “The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable.”

The announcement came after Tehran widened its attacks across the Gulf region earlier on Sunday, targeting Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, and Jordan after the United States struck Iranian targets Saturday night in response to an Iranian missile attack on a Cyprus-flagged merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Shortly after the strikes were announced, a U.S. official told the New York Times to expect a “bigger” wave of attacks relative to the earlier strikes. Strikes were still being launched over three hours after the initial announcement, and a security guard was killed “after a projectile hit a water pumping station” in southwest Iran, according to CNN.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for CENTCOM, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps “fired at commercial shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz” soon after the announcement.

CENTOM provided an update on the strikes late Sunday night, saying it is prepared to ensure freedom of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz “despite Iran’s continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations.”

“CENTCOM forces struck Iranian military air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats using U.S. fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time,” according to the statement.

CENTCOM and Tehran offered contradictory messages about the status of the Strait of Hormuz earlier Sunday, with Iranian leaders claiming it was closed until further notice.

“FACT: Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said Sunday morning. “It remains an international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way.”

IRAN RETURNS TO NO-LIMITS GULF STATE TARGET LIST AFTER DECLARING STRAIT OF HORMUZ CLOSED

Oil prices rose in response to the attack.

On Sunday afternoon, CENTCOM also rebutted a claim made by Iranian state media that three American soldiers were killed in the strikes on Kuwait. President Donald Trump has yet to comment on the most recent strikes.