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Strikes, blockade, and Hormuz
The United States renewed its blockade of Iranian ports after another day of escalating exchanges with Iran, with the US military saying its blockade of vessels transiting “to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas” went into effect on 20:00 GMT on Tuesday evening.
“Iran says US struck port city of Bushehr, 2 counties in SW Iran Two counties in southwestern Iran's Khuzestan province were hit by US strikes on Tuesday afternoon, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported, citing a local official”
CENTCOM also announced it had started a new wave of strikes on Iran aimed at “degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian officials and state media reported US strikes on the city of Abadan, the port city of Mahshahr, Qeshm Island and Kish Island, while CENTCOM had launched a wave of attacks across Iran on Monday night including strikes on Bushehr and Bandar Abbas.
Iran responded by hitting two ships in Omani waters in the Strait of Hormuz, killing a crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates, and Iran also carried out retaliatory attacks Tuesday on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, Iran, said, “This is a low-intensity war that is becoming persistent,” as Victoria Gatenby reported from Doha, Qatar that “It’s been another difficult 24 hours for countries in the Gulf and in Jordan as these Iranian attacks continue across this region.”
Voices and competing frames
Trump said he was scrapping a planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, replacing the fee with trade deals with Gulf allies, and he posted on Truth Social, “I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
The Guardian reported that Trump backed down from the 20% fee threat “based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership,” while also saying the US would continue to blockade Iranian ports.
In response to the US blockade and strikes, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the US of destroying the MoU and violating all its obligations under the agreement, saying Iran currently has no commitments under the MoU, including regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
The Guardian also quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning Iran, “I will say it to the leaders of Iran: do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” and the same article described Iran targeting Bahrain, Jordan, and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates in the strait.
Kurdistan24 said the United States expanded its military campaign on Tuesday striking Bushehr and targets in southwestern Khuzestan province, while India lodged a formal protest in New Delhi over deadly attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
What comes next
The US military said it would resume its naval blockade of Iranian ports at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday local time, and it added that its strikes over recent days were intended to degrade the Iranian military’s ability to target commercial ships in the strait.
“The United States has renewed its blockade of Iranian ports after another day of escalating exchanges with Iran that appear to have doomed their interim peace deal”
The Guardian said the attacks were a significant block to efforts to reopen the strait, noting that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries was supposed to reopen the strait but that “flares in violence and breakdowns in negotiations have hindered free navigation in the waterway.”
Euronews reported that Iran’s parliament formally submitted a bill titled “Strategic action for the security and sustainable development of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf,” as it described US strikes hitting Bushehr and further strikes hitting Abadan and Mahshahr.
Euronews also said Brigadier General Akraminia, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters, warned Iran would “under no circumstances” allow the US to interfere in managing the strait and said any cooperation with Washington would be regarded as “an act of war.”
Meanwhile, the International Maritime Agency expressed concern about the latest attacks in the strait, which it said had claimed the lives of two seafarers, and said the “cycle of escalation must end,” as the US and Iran continued exchanging strikes across the region.
