The US military has announced it has commenced fresh strikes against Iran in the wake of projectiles striking multiple international tankers in the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Tuesday. US Central Command (CENTCOM) in a public X post says its “forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”
“The U.S. strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” it added. These will mark the first US strikes against the Islamic Republic since last Friday’s start of week-long funeral ceremonies for the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump had indicated a pause in both strikes and diplomacy was on in order for the burial to take place. The new US military escalation began around or just after midnight Tehran time.
Just before the start of the fresh Pentagon action, Mohsen Rezaei, adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Iranian state TV that American attempts to forge an alternative route in the Strait of Hormuz will lead to the failure of negotiations between the two states.
”It is quite clear that the United States will lead the negotiations with Iran to failure,” Rezaei said. He also demanded the “the withdrawal of the United States from the region” – which can ensure lasting peace, he asserted. And now there could be a return to full war in Lebanon as well. Per breaking newswires:
- Israeli fighter jets carried out attacks in Barachit and Beit Yahoun in southern Lebanon
- US Strikes Targeted Air Defense Systems, Drone Sites: Axios
- Several explosions have been heard near Sirik and Qeshm in southern Iran, according to Iran’s Fars news agency: Al Jazeera
As expected, Tehran has condemned the new attacks as a severe US violation of the MoU. Early reports suggest bombing raids on strategically situated small Iranian islands just off the Strait of Hormuz:
According to state TV, six explosions have been heard on the island of Qeshm which is the largest island in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, with very geostrategic significance when it comes to Iran’s control and authority over the Strait of Hormuz.
The state TV also says that at least seven explosions have been heard in the areas close to Sirik Port which is very important because it oversees the Strait of Hormuz, another strategic point from which Iran imposes its control and authority over the Strait of Hormuz.
