Iran targeted American military sites in the Gulf on Wednesday after the US launched strikes on several places in Iran and reinstated sanctions on its oil sales. Washington said it was responding to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The crossfire raised fears that the war in Iran could reignite, and US President Donald Trump fuelled those concerns by saying that the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over”, though he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.
Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump’s comments add new uncertainty, and oil prices shot up after he spoke. A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial to the global economy.
“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that US representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time,” he said.
Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the days-long funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed February 28 in the war’s first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.
The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
Overnight US strikes target Iran
The US military’s Central Command said American forces launched strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway”.
It said it hit Iranian targets including air defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats used by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Those boats have been key to threatening ships in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war. Iran’s ability to bring shipping in the waterway to a near halt during the war proved its greatest strategic advantage as rising prices for energy supplies, fertiliser and food put pressure on the US to make a deal. On Wednesday, the price of Brent crude, the international standard, spiked over 6% after Trump’s comments.
The US military remains “prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed”, it added, saying this round of attacks had ended.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including in Bandar-e Mahshahr, where a Revolutionary Guard member was killed. It also reported attacks on Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex.
On Wednesday morning, both Bahrain, home to the US navy’s Fifth Fleet, and Kuwait, home to US army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting US military installations in both countries.
Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran. Its electricity ministry said a number of lines were out of service after shrapnel fell on them.
Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomat in the United Arab Emirates, called Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait “a clear indicator that Tehran remains incapable of committing to the requirements of de-escalation and turning the page on war”.
US revokes the licence for the sale of Iranian oil
Before the strikes, the US revoked a licence that authorised the sale of Iranian oil as part of the interim deal. That paused US sanctions and allowed Iran to conduct oil sales openly in US dollars for the first time in years. Iran had long been suspected of selling sanctioned crude at below-market prices to China.
The decision came after the strikes on shipping. One tanker was off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iranian state television said the tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, said the tanker was carrying Qatari natural gas and called the strike an “unacceptable attack” on international navigation and global energy security. He said Qatar, which has been a key mediator alongside Pakistan in the talks, holds Iran “fully legally responsible”.
The other two ships sustained some damage, but no-one was injured, and both continued on their way, the UK agency said.
Iran and the US agreed as part of the interim deal to allow ships to pass through the strait without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran has insisted it must control the vessels’ routes and vowed to later charge fees for passage. That would upend decades of practice in the waterway. The ships attacked Tuesday all appeared to be using a route close to Oman’s shore, rather than one ordered by Tehran.
The US and many Gulf Arab states say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait.
Reporting by Jon Gambrell and Seung Min Kim, with Nasser Karimi, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Collin Binkley.
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Top image: Commercial vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran on June 30. Picture: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP.
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