- The US says it struck hundreds of Iranian targets after attacks on ships.
- Tehran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again.
- Iran attacked US facilities in all Gulf states.
WASHINGTON/DUBAI: U.S. and Iranian forces have traded heavy missile and drone attacks, and Tehran on Sunday attacked U.S. facilities in states along the Gulf and said it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed violence casts further doubt on the future of an interim deal between the United States and Iran signed last month that aimed to reopen the strait and end the war after 60 more days of negotiations.
The attacks were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counterattacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the bombing marked an escalation in pace and scope.
Iran’s attacks extended to Qatar, a mediator in the ceasefire talks that had not been attacked since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been attacked since early May, said its air defenses had targeted Iranian missiles and drones.
The US military began launching more strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Central Command said in a statement on social media platform
US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins told CNN that US aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone.
In a brief telephone interview with Reuters on Sunday afternoon, US President Donald Trump addressed the weekend attacks on Iran. “We’re hitting them,” he said.
Iranian media said on Sunday that missile attacks and explosions had occurred around the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, where military installations are located in the strait, and the nearby island of Qeshm.
In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the “aggressive” US attacks on Iran over the weekend. The ministry also said talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat – focused on arrangements to manage the strait and transit routes – could not reach a result due to “overt and covert” US pressure on Oman.
Last week, Trump said he considered the ceasefire over, but left the door open to more talks.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X on Sunday: “The era of unilateral agreements is OVER. We told them: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is calling.”
The war that the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 has destabilized the Gulf, where Iran has attacked countries hosting American bases. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has raised energy prices and fueled global inflation.
Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
Flurry of strikes
Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting tariffs in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the war, and has warned ships not to sail without its permission.
It said Saturday night that it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that hit a boat traveling on an unauthorized route. On Sunday, he said he had disabled a second ship.
India said one of its citizens was missing after an attack on the GFS Galaxy container ship off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar advised all vessels, including pleasure vessels, fishing vessels and jet skis, to suspend their activities.
Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to “recent illegal movements of US military forces in the region.” Permits will be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” he said.
The United States, which revoked a license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude oil on Tuesday following earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it described as “aggression, harassment, threats and arbitrary statements” from Iran.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic flows,” he said.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center reiterated guidance that, despite a serious security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for traffic in both directions.
On Saturday, US Central Command said US forces had struck 140 Iranian military targets and that more than 300 had been attacked over three nights this week “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had destroyed a command and control center and drone hangars in U.S. ally Jordan, attacked a U.S. radar site and then rocket launch systems in Kuwait, attacked U.S. aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed an aircraft maintenance center and command facility in Qatar.
‘Keep your word or pay the price,’ says Iran
Qatar, which had previously said it would not act as a mediator while under attack, said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel. He said Iran was “fully legally responsible” for the attack.
The United Arab Emirates said it detected missile threats outside its borders, while Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian airstrikes, Jordan reported missile attacks and Oman reported being attacked by drones. Kuwait’s military later reported damage from the strikes and said an attack on an oil drilling platform injured one worker.
Oman said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest drone attacks in two regions and the US embassy in Oman told its citizens in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.
