The US military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday and revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting further pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
After a day in which huge crowds mourned Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom, US Central Command announced that it had begun a series of “powerful” strikes intended to “impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping.”
“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said on X.
It later said over 80 Iranian targets were hit in the strikes, including air defenses, command and control equipment, radar sites along the coast, anti-ship missiles and over 60 small boats belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with the aim of “degrading Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor.”
“CENTCOM forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed,” it added.
Iranian media reported explosions early Wednesday local time in the southern port city of Sirik, on Qeshm Island, and in Bandar Abbas. No civilian deaths were reported, but several people were injured by shrapnel from an “enemy projectile” that hit a commercial pier in Sirik, according to an Iranian state TV reporter. The reports said strikes also hit fishing piers in Sirik and in Bandar Abbas, where several fishing boats were set ablaze.
The strikes came shortly after Washington revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil, raising pressure on Tehran as it negotiates with the US over a final settlement to the conflict.
“Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” a US official told AFP.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was “entirely performance-based,” warning that Tehran would see benefits only if it showed “good behavior.”
Oil prices rose more than 3% after the US announced the move.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had hit dozens of US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to American strikes, in a statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB.
“In an initial response to this aggression, the IRGC Navy and Aerospace Force carried out a joint missile and drone operation, striking 85 key US military facilities” in the two countries, while also shooting down an MQ-9 drone, the statement said.
Qatar blamed Iran for Tuesday’s attacks on the vessels, including the huge Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, the Al Rekayyat, which reported being struck overnight by a drone that caused a fire in its engine room. The crew were safe and being evacuated.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador and handed him a protest note following the attack on the tanker, urging Tehran to “immediately cease any practices undermining regional security.”
“We hold Iran fully legally responsible for this attack and for any resulting damages or repercussions,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari wrote on X.
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