- The United States claims to have hit hundreds of Iranian targets after ship attacks.
- Tehran claims to have closed the Strait of Hormuz again.
- Iran has targeted US facilities in the Gulf states.
WASHINGTON/DUBAI: US and Iranian forces exchanged heavy missile and drone attacks, with Tehran targeting US facilities in Gulf states on Sunday and claiming to have once again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The surge in violence casts further doubt on the future of the U.S.-Iran interim deal signed last month aimed at reopening the strait and ending the war after 60 more days of negotiations.
The strikes are the latest in a cycle of attacks and counterattacks as Iran seeks to assert its control over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the barrage marked an escalation in terms of pace and scope.
Iranian strikes have spread to Qatar, mediator in ceasefire talks, which has not been attacked since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defenses had attacked Iranian missiles and drones.
The U.S. military began launching new strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, Central Command said in a statement on social media platform
US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins told CNN that US planes 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 discussed the weekend’s strikes against Iran. “We beat them,” he said.
Iranian media reported on Sunday that there were missile attacks and explosions around the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, which host military installations in the strait, and near the island of Qeshm.
In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned “aggressive” US attacks on Iran over the weekend. The ministry also said that talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat – focused on arrangements for the management of the strait and transit routes – had failed due to “overt and covert” pressure from the United States on Oman.
Last week, Trump said he considered the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open for further negotiations.
The main Iranian negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, published on X on Sunday: “The era of unilateral agreements is over. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality hits.”
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28 has destabilized the Gulf, where Iran has struck countries hosting American bases. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has driven up energy prices and fueled global inflation.
Rising prices, particularly for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump as the November congressional elections approach.
A wave of strikes
Iran has sought to establish a permanent system of collecting fees in the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas, and has warned ships not to sail without its permission.
It announced Saturday evening that it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a ship taking an unauthorized route. On Sunday, it announced that it had disabled a second ship.
India says one of its nationals is missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar has advised all vessels, including recreational boats, fishing boats and jet skis, to suspend operations.
Iran’s recently established Persian Gulf Straits Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was currently not possible due to “recent illegal movements of US military forces in the region”. The permits will be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” he said.
The United States, which on Tuesday revoked the license allowing the sale of Iranian crude following earlier attacks on the ships, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it called “aggression, harassment, threats and arbitrary statements” by Iran.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is fluid,” the statement said.
The Joint Maritime Information Center, run by the US Navy, reiterated its indications that, despite a serious security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic.
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces struck 140 Iranian military targets, with more than 300 struck over three nights this week “in an effort to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting freely through the strait.”
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it destroyed a command and control center and drone hangars in U.S. ally Jordan, targeted a U.S. radar site and later rocket launcher 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 has previously said it would not act as mediator while it is under attack, said three people, including a child, were injured by shrapnel. He said Iran was “fully legally responsible” for the attack.
The United Arab Emirates said it had detected missile threats outside its borders, while Bahrain said it had intercepted several Iranian air attacks, Jordan reported missile strikes and Oman said it had been targeted by drones. The Kuwaiti military later reported damage caused by the strikes and said an attack on an oil drilling platform had injured a worker.
Oman said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest drone attacks in two regions and the US embassy in Oman asked its nationals in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.
