The US on Wednesday said it has launched fresh ‘strikes’ against Iran, saying these are in retaliation to Tehran’s attack on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media reported explosions in the port city of Sirik, Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island early Wednesday.
Iranian military leaders vowed a ‘crushing response’ to the attack, adding that they would not allow foreign interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later said that it had targeted 85 US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait in response to the US attacks.
MB Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, termed the US attacks as ‘Major Violations of the MoU by the US’.
He also questioned the US decision of ‘reinstating oil sanctions on Iran’.
“The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM), tasked to West Asia, said its forces completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran on July 7, hitting more than 80 targets with precision munitions.
The US Central Command, in a statement, said, “Forces struck Iranian air defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait of Hormuz”.
The operation was intended to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor, it added.
The US accused Iran of having recently attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Al Rekayyat, Saudi Arabia-flagged MT Wedyan, and Liberian-flagged MT Cyprus Prosperity.
“The unwarranted aggression by Iranian forces is a clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire and undermines freedom of navigation,” CENTCOM said.
It added that US forces remain prepared to hold Iran “accountable” for any further violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The US and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire, however, the truce remains fragile as negotiations continue for a ‘comprehensive political settlement’.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cease hostilities has come under attack in both countries. In Iran, some protesters have called for the deaths of top negotiators Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, some Republicans have also criticised US President Donald Trump over the MoU.