The US said it launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran after Tehran struck a ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it closed the waterway until further notice and warned of a severe response to US “aggression”, according to state media.
Within hours of the US strikes, the IRGC said they had hit a US base in Jordan, while the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain were all responding to missiles and drones from Iran.
It comes after incidents earlier this week in which three commercial tankers were attacked, prompting an exchange of strikes with the US.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it launched a third round of strikes this week after the IRGC “blatantly attacked” a Cyprus-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Centcom said the MV GFS Galaxy was “unable to continue its journey” as a result of significant damage to the engine room. One civilian crew member was missing, it said.
It said US strikes hit 140 Iranian military targets, including missile and drone sites, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had been informed by military authorities that the crew of the vessel were forced to abandon ship and were in a lifeboat.
“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” Centcom wrote in a statement shared to X.
The statement was shared by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who wrote: “Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.”
The IRGC said the US had targeted “a number of coastal bases and telecommunications towers on the southern coast”.
In response, Iran said its “first phase” of retaliation included strikes on the Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, saying it had destroyed the base’s command and control centre and MQ9 drone hangars.
Earlier on Sunday, state media said Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz until further notice after firing a naval cruise missile at a vessel that was attempting to sail along an unapproved route.
The Guards said the vessel was “hit by warning shots and stopped” after ignoring repeated instructions, according to a statement carried by state news agency
It also warned that any US “aggression” as a result of the closure would be responded to with “severity” and new bases in the region would be targeted.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also the country’s chief negotiator with the US, wrote on X that the “era of one-sided deals is OVER”.
He went on: “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
Earlier this week, three commercial tankers were attacked as they tried to cross a US-recommended route through Omani waters. Iran has repeatedly said the only “safe” route is a separate route through its waters.
The incident prompted a series of US strikes in which 17 people were killed and 115 injured, according to Iranian officials. Iran responded with strikes on US allies in the Gulf.
The exchange raised tensions, with US President Donald Trump declaring the Iranian attacks mean the ceasefire is over. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the US of violating the deal.
However, the US leader said talks would stillcontinue and mediators were trying to revive the process. US media has reported that Iran told American officials the attacks on tankers were a mistake and blamed a rogue internal group.
American officials say they have conveyed through mediators the demand that Iran publicly state that the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international shipping route, is open and pledge to stop firing on commercial ships.
The closure follows a call for revenge from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in his first public statement since taking leadership.
His father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an air strike on 28 February, on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran. He was buried in his home city of Mashhad on Friday.
Reading a statement on state television, the new ayatollah said that vengeance was the “will of the nation”.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers,” he was quoted as saying.
“The matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass.”
Many Iranians taking part in funeral ceremonies over the past few days carried placards calling for the killing of US President Donald Trump, who on Saturday warned that any such plans would see the US “decimate and destroy all areas” of Iran in response. The Wall Street Journal and other US media reported this week that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington that Iran had recently devised a plan to assassinate the US president.
However, Trump denied that Tehran had made a fresh plan or that Israel was the source of any intelligence. He told the New York Post in an interview that he had been “No. 1 [on Iran’s kill list] for a long time”.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
