US renews Iran strikes as both sides dispute Hormuz status

The U.S. launched fresh missile attacks against Iran on Sunday in what has become a pattern of strikes and counterstrikes by Washington and Tehran as the two sides issued conflicting declarations over whether the Strait of Hormuz is open to shipping.

The attacks Sunday afternoon were the fourth from the U.S. in a week. U.S. Central Command said the weekend strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on a Cyprus-flagged container ship. CNN reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired at commercial ships again, and that U.S. aircraft intercepted an Iranian cruise missile and attack drone.

The Islamic Republic then launched retaliatory drone and missile assaults on American allies across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. So far, only minor damage was reported and no one was injured.

U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that the strikes were designed to limit Iran’s ability to attack civilian ships in the strait, adding that President Donald Trump “has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable.”

The increasingly heated tit-for-tat attacks are throwing into doubt the fate of U.S.-Iran negotiations that are supposed to lead to the settling of key issues such as the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and eventually bring an end to the war Washington and Israel began in late February.

Over the weekend, Iran said the Hormuz strait would now be closed “until further notice.” U.S. Central Command disputed that, saying that waterway was still open to all vessels and the U.S. military is prepared to ensure freedom of navigation. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a global monitoring body, reported Sunday it was still possible to transit the strait’s southern route.

Trump also said the strait remained open as he spoke Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We bombed the hell out of them last night,” he said. “They’re very, very evil and sick people.”

Iranian media early Sunday reported blasts on the country’s southern coast, including at the energy and petrochemical hubs of Bushehr and Asalouyeh, the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar-e Dayyer, and the Sirik area near the Hormuz strait, a global energy chokepoint. A communication tower was hit in the southern province of Kerman, injuring two people, according to the Mehr news agency.

Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that 10 or 11 missiles were fired at Qeshm Island later Sunday by the “enemy,” without causing casualties. Kuwait said a drone attack damaged a Kuwait Oil Co. drilling platform.

A U.S. official told Axios that it conducted a “few” strikes on missile and air defense systems as well as small boats run by the IRGC around the strait.

The IRGC said earlier Sunday it wouldn’t allow any vessels to transit the Hormuz strait until foreign interference ends, according to state-run IRIB News.

Control of the waterway — through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas once moved — has been central to U.S.-Iran negotiations. The IRGC accused the U.S. of seeking “to create disruption in the south of the Strait of Hormuz” by “instigating several vessels.”

There was almost no visible traffic in the strait on Sunday. The maritime security threat “remains severe,” the multinational JMIC said in a note.

Before the latest escalation, both the U.S. and Iran had suggested there was still room for talks even as the rhetoric intensified.

The IRGC said it fired ballistic missiles at the Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan on Sunday, targeting a U.S. command and control center and multiple drone hangars. The kingdom reported being hit by three missiles, without giving more details.

Qatar, meanwhile, said three people were injured by falling debris after Iranian missiles were intercepted. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported the Guards had targeted Al-Udeid Air Base with ballistic missiles.

Kuwait also said it was responding to aerial attacks, after Iran’s regular army announced drone assaults aimed at a U.S. Patriot missile battery, an ammunition depot and a radar site in the country. The Iranian military said a U.S. communications array and radar installation in Bahrain were targeted too.

Iranian state media reported other strikes against U.S. naval logistics hubs and aircraft carrier refueling platforms at Oman’s Port of Duqm. Oman summoned Iran’s ambassador and protested drone attacks that targeted sites in the sultanate’s Musandam and Alwusta governorates, its foreign ministry said.

The IRGC halted a cargo ship after firing a warning shot because it tried to transit the Hormuz strait on Saturday despite a warning, IRIB reported. Fars reported Iranian forces had “struck and halted a second non-compliant vessel,” though it didn’t provide further details.

A Cyprus-flagged container ship that was hit, M/V GFS Galaxy, is missing a civilian crew member and was unable to continue its journey after suffering significant damage, Central Command said.

Only two oil-products tankers were seen approaching the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.

One empty very large crude carrier began signaling again in the Persian Gulf close to the Omani side early in the day, suggesting it pushed through the waterway from the Gulf of Oman without its transponders turned on. Bloomberg News couldn’t immediately determine when the supertanker crossed the strait.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman on Saturday for talks on the future of Hormuz, but there was no sign of involvement by senior U.S. envoys.

Earlier, Iran demanded that the U.S. implement key commitments under a recent deal before more talks take place, rejecting Trump’s contention negotiations could continue without a ceasefire. Tehran said Washington must meet Iran’s conditions for resolving transit issues through the strait and normalizing its oil exports.

On Friday, Trump had threatened to shower Iran with “1000 Missiles” if it acted on a threat to kill the US leader, “in this case, ME!”

The US had also demanded that Iran publicly declare all channels of the Hormuz open to shipping and pledge not to attack civilian vessels transiting the waterway. Tehran would face consequences if it fails to deliver the public assurance, senior Trump administration officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.

_____

(With assistance from Catherine Lucey.)

_____