US and Iran exchange strikes as Tehran again says strait of Hormuz is closed
tags:Iran and the US exchanged fresh strikes early on Sunday over what Tehran said was unauthorised use of the strait of Hormuz by a container ship, raising further doubts about the prospects of talks to agree a way forward for the vital waterway.
The latest flare-up began when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route and then closed the strait, warning that any retaliation would be met with a “severe response”.
“A vessel that had jeopardised maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and brought to a halt,” the navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement, without giving further details.
A short time later, US Central Command said its forces had carried out a round of strikes against Iran, attacking at least 140 targets. “The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” the military said.
The targets included missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition depots, communication networks and surveillance locations, it added.
Iran had attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship, which suffered “significant engine room damage”, and a civilian crew member was missing, US Central Command said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) confirmed a container ship nine nautical miles east of Oman sustained damage to the rear of the vessel which caused a fire onboard.
Hours later, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait said their air defences were engaging missile and drone threats, while neighbouring Bahrain sounded air raid sirens. The UAE said explosions heard across the country “are the result of ongoing engaging operations of missiles and UAVs”. Bahrain’s interior ministry urged citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.
Iran’s IRGC later said it had struck and disabled a second vessel in the strait and targeted the US air base at Al Udeid in Qatar with ballistic missiles, destroying its fighter jet maintenance centre and command and control facility.
The strait, the IRGC said, was now closed “until further notice” and at least until “the end of US interference in this region”.
The latest incident comes amid efforts in Oman to discuss the fate of the strait. Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi met Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi to exchange “views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the strait of Hormuz”, according to a statement from Tehran.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan had agreed to negotiate in a call that mediators were trying to arrange for Saturday while Araqchi was in Oman. It was not immediately clear whether the efforts were successful.
The latest diplomatic moves followed exchanges of rhetoric on Saturday between Tehran and Washington. Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed revenge for the killing of his father and predecessor, hours after US president Donald Trump threatened severe reprisals in the event of any attempt on his life.
“Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote in his first message since his father’s funeral this week. He said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.
Both sides carried out exchanges of fire earlier this week, rocking an interim agreement aimed at ending the war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed the then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Trump has declared the ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution, with Iranian media reporting that a delegation from Qatar travelled to Iran on Friday.
Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran.
“1000 missiles are locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he wrote.
News outlets Axios and Politico reported that Washington has given Tehran until Saturday to stop firing on commercial ships transiting Hormuz and acknowledge the waterway is open.
With Agence France-Presse and Reuters