Washington, United States. The U.S. military said it had launched fresh strikes on Iran aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to traffic, hours after President Donald Trump said an interim agreement to end the war was over. The attacks followed Tuesday’s assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait.
New U.S. strikes announced
CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s Middle East command, said on X that its forces had started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further reduce its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It said the United States was holding Iran responsible for what it described as recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews using a vital international waterway.
Impact along Iran’s southern coast
The latest round of attacks rattled several cities along Iran’s southern coast and left some areas without power. A U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Wednesday’s strikes would be greater in number than those carried out on Tuesday.
Trump warns of stronger response
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the action was retribution for the previous day’s bombing of ships by Iran. He added that if it happened again, the response would be much worse.
Strategic importance of the strait
Before the war began with U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, about a fifth of global oil supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Control of the waterway has given Tehran significant leverage. Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, but analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
Iranian threats and regional attacks
Nournews, affiliated with Iran’s top security body, cited a military source as saying Tehran would soon launch a massive attack on U.S. bases in the region. Senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Mohsen Rezaei, also said on X that the aggressor enemy and its accomplices would be severely punished.
Prospects for a deal weaken
The latest escalation reduced hopes that a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 could be turned into a permanent agreement to end the war. Iran said on Wednesday that it had attacked U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to earlier U.S. strikes on infrastructure, which were themselves retaliation for the ship attacks.