Iran has launched a wave of major retaliatory strikes targeting at least eight US military installations across the Middle East.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the installations were targeted in response to US airstrikes on Iran's Sirik city and Qeshm Island late Saturday (June 27) local time, according to a report by Iranian media outlet Press TV.

In an official statement, the IRGC detailed that its naval and aerospace forces jointly executed the special operation within a one-hour window between 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM local time on Saturday night. The operation precisely targeted eight "critical US military facilities," including the Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the primary headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet located at Port Salman in Bahrain.

The IRGC claimed that indigenous, state-of-the-art ballistic missiles and a swarm of drones were deployed in the retaliatory operation. The powerful military wing asserted that the heavy strikes on the US installations were fully successful.

According to the statement, the counter-offensive was launched shortly after adversarial US forces carried out surprise strikes on five Iranian coastal outposts earlier in the day.

"It is in the nature of the United States to break promises and violate bilateral agreements," the IRGC statement read. "They unjustifiably attacked five Iranian coastal outposts, claiming it was a response to actions taken against an intrusive vessel by the IRGC Navy in the Strait of Hormuz—a claim that is entirely false."

The Iranian military further noted that under a recent memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the United States—brokered by Pakistan—the legal responsibility for monitoring all maritime vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz rests with Iran.

Issuing a stern warning, the IRGC stated that moving forward, far more severe measures will be taken against any vessel violating international maritime regulations. It added that should the enemy launch any fresh aggression under any pretext in the future, the subsequent response will be highly severe, widespread, and devastating.