- Trump plans Hormuz blockade and proposes 20% cargo transit fee.
- The United States says the strikes hit military targets in Bushehr and Bandar Abbas.
- Trump says an Iran deal is still possible despite renewed fighting.
The United States launched a third night of attacks on Iran as President Donald Trump planned to reimpose a blockade Tuesday on Iranian ports and set a 20% tariff on cargo in the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said a deal with the Islamic republic was still possible even as attacks were carried out, in which Iran attacked two ships in the strategic waterway and killed a crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates.
The US military said its five-hour mission hit targets across Iran, including off the coast of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, to “degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping.”
After the attacks, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced that they had in turn fired missiles and drones into Bahrain, targeting a residential building for US forces and other facilities.
“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow,” Trump said at the White House on Monday.
Trump’s statement on the Hormuz blockade came after US and Iranian attacks on a scale not seen since an April ceasefire in the Middle East conflict, raising doubts about efforts to bring a permanent end to the war.
Iran began blocking the strait after US-Israeli attacks in February, which prompted Washington to block Tehran’s ports, but restrictions eased after the sides agreed to a preliminary deal in June.
Trump said on Monday that the United States was “taking over” the strait and would impose a 20% tax on all cargo sent through it, in an announcement that drew ridicule from Iran and accusations of “piracy.”
US Central Command (Centcom) said Iranian ports on the waterway would be blocked from 2000 GMT on Tuesday.
Oil prices soared more than 9% on Monday over fears of a new conflict and rose again on Tuesday, accumulating more than 1%.
Tehran launched attacks against other US allies in the region, including Jordan, which said it had shot down four Iranian missiles.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its attacks targeted US forces at an air base and urged Jordanians to issue a “serious demand for the withdrawal of occupying US bases from the region.”
These attacks came after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced attacks on Monday against Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman.
Iran insists it is only targeting American interests in the Gulf, but its military command spokesman said any collaboration by Gulf countries with the United States would be considered “an act of war.”
Conflict resumed
Trump formally notified Congress last week that the United States had resumed military conflict against Iran, the White House confirmed to AFP, giving the Pentagon an additional 60 days to operate in the region without congressional approval.
In addition to the measures in Hormuz, the US president also threatened to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site near Natanz, where Western intelligence suspects Iran of building an undeclared enrichment facility.
“Tell the Iranians to be prepared. Let them know that we are going (and) that there is nothing they can do about it,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump declared on Truth Social that the United States would be “known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ'” and would charge a 20% tariff on all cargo shipped through the waterway.
While Iran’s ports would be blocked again, Trump said “all other countries will have fair and open use of the strait.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mockingly responded in X that Trump was “absolutely right” that whoever guarantees safe passage should be compensated, but that Tehran would charge less.
“Of course, 20% is too much,” he said.
Washington has vehemently opposed Tehran’s desire to collect tolls across the strait, something that international law generally prohibits.
‘In crisis’
Despite all indications to the contrary, Trump said on Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the war was still possible.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said earlier on Monday that the June memorandum of understanding that formed the basis for negotiations and lifted the US blockade was “in crisis.”
Baqaei said Iran would ignore its obligations under the deal if Washington did the same, but added that Tehran was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to avoid further escalation.
