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Blockade and strikes
The United States disabled an unladen oil tanker, the Curacao-flagged M/T Belma, that CENTCOM said was transiting international waters toward Kharg Island as the feud over the Strait of Hormuz escalated after President Trump reinstated a blockade on Iranian ports.
“In short: The US military's Central Command says it has launched new strikes across Iran”
CENTCOM said it launched a 90-minute attack on Greater Tunb Island and that the strikes further “degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” while Al Jazeera reported CENTCOM completed a 90-minute round of strikes at 7:30am Washington, DC time.
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said more than 260 people were injured in the latest US attacks, and Al Jazeera reported 222 discharged after receiving treatment.
In parallel, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News agency reported explosions in Bandar Abbas and three explosions in Chabahar, while the Kuwait army announced it detected and shot down four cruise missiles and 21 drones in its airspace.
The BBC reported Trump threatened that if Iran does not resume negotiations, “next week he would attack this country’s bridges and power plants,” as the United States resumed the blockade of Iran’s ports and attacks entered their fourth day.
Competing claims and threats
Vice President JD Vance said he was “very frustrated” by Americans and others who argued “You cannot negotiate with the Iranians,” and he challenged the idea of bombing as a substitute for talks by asking what proposal would stop ships from being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
Vance also said internal tensions in Iran included “hardliners” reacting strongly to “all the oil that's coming out of the Strait of Hormuz,” while “the pragmatists in their system are saying, 'This was a mistake, let's keep on talking.'”
Al Jazeera reported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it launched overnight attacks on US military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, and said it inflicted heavy damage on the US Fifth Fleet headquarters and support facilities in Bahrain.
The Guardian, citing Reuters, reported the Guards warned that if Washington sought to block regional oil and gas exports by controlling maritime routes, other export routes could also be closed, saying regional energy exports would be “for everyone or for no one”.
In Kuwait and Bahrain, the BBC said air-raid warnings sounded and Kuwait’s army tracked Iranian offensive drones, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry urged citizens and residents to remain calm and go to the nearest safe location.
What comes next
The renewed exchange has been tied to the breakdown of the interim U.S.-Iran arrangement, with the BBC saying Trump withdrew a threat to impose a 20 percent tariff on shipments through the Strait of Hormuz but resumed the blockade of Iran’s ports.
Al Jazeera reported the US resumption of its naval blockade took effect at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday, while the same report said oil prices climbed amid concerns over disruptions to global energy supplies.
The Guardian said Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned the US decision to renew the blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum,” as Britain’s Eyot Cooper told a House of Commons session that “We want the Strait of Hormuz fully reopened.”
In the same British exchange, Cooper said “No country can do what Iran has done,” and he added that Iran’s regime had deliberately tried to turn the strait into a weapon and hostage the global economy.
Looking ahead, the BBC reported Trump said next week would be “really bad for them,” with the United States planning to “shut down all of their power plants” and target “all their bridges unless they came to the negotiating table,” while CENTCOM said its strikes were aimed at degrading Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.
