“This Is Punishment” – Does The Massive Wave Of U.S. Airstrikes In Iran Mean That The Next Chapter Of World War III Has Begun?

As I write this article, large explosions are being reported all over Iran. Does this mean that the “Memorandum of Understanding” is doomed? Iran made a very foolish move when it decided to start attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz again. It was inevitable that the U.S. would respond militarily, and this time the Trump administration is not messing around. Apparently this wave of airstrikes is far larger than the waves of airstrikes that we witnessed near the end of last month. Of course the Iranians are going to strike back. That goes without saying. But when fighting has flared up in the past, a way has always been found to settle things back down. Will that be true this time, or has the next chapter of World War III started?

According to U.S. Central Command, the goal of the latest U.S. airstrikes is to “impose heavy costs” on Iran for attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz…

Needless to say, we have seen this happen before.

When Iran has attacked commercial vessels traveling through the Strait, there has been a “proportional” response from the United States.

But this time around we are being told that “this is punishment”…

US military strikes underway against targets in Iran are “not proportional,” a US official told CNN, as the US looks to respond to recent Iranian attacks on cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is punishment,” the official said. “It won’t be over for a bit.”

US Central Command announced Tuesday evening that strikes were underway, describing them as “powerful” and saying that they were intended “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians.”

That sounds quite serious.

Most of the targets that the U.S. is hitting are located near the Strait of Hormuz, and it appears that all of them are military-related…

Without a doubt, a very large response was required after Iran attacked multiple commercial vessels.

But if the response is too large, it could set off a spiral of escalation that nobody will be able to stop.

According to Axios, the latest wave of U.S. airstrikes is approximately four to five times larger than the airstrikes that occurred late last month…

This is a rapidly developing story, and there are many details that are not entirely clear at this hour.

But we can be sure that the Iranians will hit back hard.

In fact, one Iranian source has reportedly stated that the Iranian response will be “broad” and will be directed at “a new target bank”…

Does this mean that Iran plans to attack targets that it has not attacked before?

I guess we will have to wait and see.

If things escalate too far, the ceasefire could totally collapse and we could return to all-out war.

If that happens, things could get really nuts.

Back on June 27th, President Trump warned that if he was forced to finish the job in Iran, the end result would be “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist”…

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump said on Truth Social on June 27. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians have been absolutely pummeling Moscow with drone attacks…

Ukraine’s President Zelensky is in Ankara for the annual NATO summit, trying to bring the pressure on the alliance to step up more defense backing amid the grinding war with Russia, which has increasingly turned into a ‘battle of the skies’.

Over 430 Ukrainian drones targeted Moscow and the surrounding region overnight, soon after which Zelensky appeared on the NATO stage Tuesday, urging allies to prioritize the production of anti-ballistic missile systems. Already Britain has said it plans to lead the way in the Western alliance developing and providing long-range missiles for Kiev.

This is a very dangerous thing to do.

By directly attacking Moscow, there is a danger that the Russians could decide that enough is enough and use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Ukrainian drones also just attacked a very large oil refinery all the way in western Siberia…

Ukrainian drones struck a major oil refinery in the city of Omsk in western Siberia, in what appears to be one of Kyiv’s deepest attacks on Russian territory since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military general staff said Monday that the strike caused a fire at the facility, which is situated nearly 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) from Ukrainian territory and close to Russia’s border with Kazakhstan.

The Ukrainians are making it clear that no major target in Russia is out of reach.

And the Russians are rapidly losing patience.

Just a little while ago, they launched another enormous ballistic missile attack on the city of Kyiv…

A series of explosions rocked Kyiv early on Wednesday as Russia keeps up its barrage of attacks on the Ukrainian capital while Nato leaders meet for a summit in Turkey.

A first large blast was heard even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded, followed by four more, Agence France-Presse journalists in the city said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said warehouses were on fire in one district because of a missile strike, and in another a “non-residential building” was ablaze.

“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in shelters!” Klitschko wrote on social media.

As I discussed yesterday, we are literally watching World War III play out right in front of our eyes.

Those that are hoping for peace are going to be bitterly disappointed.

The war in Ukraine has been raging for years, and the war in the Middle East has been raging for years.

We have already seen so much death and so much destruction, but the chapters that are ahead are going to be even worse.

Just as I am wrapping up this article, it is being reported that the Iranians are warning that a “hellish response” is coming.

It has been said that “war is hell”, and if we keep going down this road the entire world will soon understand this very clearly.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.