- US Central Command claims to have hit more than 80 targets in Iran.
- The United States strikes after the revocation of the authorization to sell oil.
- Several reported being injured by shrapnel in Sirik.
The US military launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday and revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
After a day in which huge crowds mourned martyred Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom, US Central Command said it carried out strikes that hit more than 80 targets in a bid to impose what it called heavy costs.
The military command said it struck more than 60 small boats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in order to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping.
“The unjustified aggression by Iranian forces constitutes a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
Iran’s highest joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, denounced the US strikes as a “blatant act of aggression”, threatened a “crushing response” and warned that Tehran would not allow US interference in the management of the strait.
Iranian media reported explosions Wednesday morning local time at Iran’s main oil platform on Kharg Island, Qeshm Island and the southern port towns of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
No civilian deaths were reported, but several people were injured by shrapnel from an “enemy projectile” that hit a commercial wharf in Sirik, according to a journalist on Iranian state television. Reports indicate that the strikes also affected the fishing wharves of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, where several fishing boats were set on fire.
Iran TV press said several explosions were heard on the southern Iranian island of Kharg. The report does not provide details on the cause of the explosions, possible damage or casualties.
The Centcom statement made no mention of Kharg Island, from where Iran exports 90% of its crude oil. The island was last attacked by the United States in April.
A US official said Reuters these strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites.
The incidents are just the latest threat to the ceasefire agreement reached last month between the United States and Iran, ending the conflict that began in February with American and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Washington decided on Tuesday to withdraw a key concession that allowed Iran to sell oil on international markets, in a potentially major blow to the deal.
A U.S. official said earlier that negotiators continued to work in good faith toward a final deal with Iran. But control of the strait gave Tehran immense leverage, allowing it to force a standoff with the world’s most powerful military.
As part of the interim agreement between the United States and Iran, the US Treasury on June 22 issued a general license authorizing the sale of crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin until August 21. By revoking the license on Tuesday, he gave Iran until July 17 to end any transactions.
Any necessary measures
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the move, calling it a violation of the framework agreement to end the war, and said Washington would take responsibility for the consequences.
The ministry said on Wednesday that Iran would take whatever measures it deems necessary to safeguard its interests and national security.
Qatar has accused Iran of attacking the ships, including the massive Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, the Al Rekayyat, which said it was struck overnight by a drone that caused a fire in its engine room. The crew was safe and being evacuated.
A Saudi-flagged tanker, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was also damaged off the coast of Oman, maritime security sources said. The cause was not immediately clear.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Iran’s deputy ambassador and handed him a note of protest following the tanker attack.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Qatar’s accusations were puzzling and that Tehran was diligently fulfilling its commitments, but asserted that commercial ships faced risks if they took uncoordinated routes with Iran.
A second U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial indications were that Iran had fired on three commercial ships.
Iranian leaders aim to install a permanent system of tax collection, which would amount to a huge shift in the balance of power in a region where Washington has long acted as security guarantor.
In the country, leaders used the mourning for Khamenei that began last week to show control after Khamenei was martyred along with his daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law on the first day of the war.
The coffins of the martyred leader and his family were carried through the streets of the seminary city of Qom on Tuesday. Iranian state media then showed what it said was footage of a plane carrying Khamenei’s coffin to the airport in the holy city of Najaf in neighboring Iraq.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was in Iraq to take part in funeral ceremonies, left for Iran after US strikes in southern Iran, state television reported.
The ceasefire was intended to provide a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent deal, but indirect talks in Qatar ended last week with no sign of progress.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombing, most recently on Monday when he told reporters in the Oval Office: “Either we’re going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job… We can take down their bridges in an hour, we can cut off their energy supply.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that under the terms of the interim ceasefire memorandum, negotiations on the final agreement “would not begin if threats persist.”
