US attacks oil tanker in strait of Hormuz as strikes reported in Tehran | US-Israel war on Iran
As part of its blockade of Iranian ports, the United States opened fire on an oil tanker trying to reach Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz; Tehran was attacked for the first time in this last round of attacks.
The United States said Thursday morning that on the fifth day of attacks, it disabled an unloaded oil tanker that fired Hellfire missiles into the ship’s funnel after ignoring multiple warnings.
On Wednesday evening, the United States targeted coastal defenses and missile sites, hours after a separate round of strikes hit Iran’s cruise missile depot and launch sites on the Great Tunb Island in the morning.
The US also struck targets further north; State media reported an attack on the country’s capital, Tehran, and air defenses were heard throughout the city early Thursday.
Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait. There is no statement yet regarding damage or loss of life. Iranian officials say more than 35 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in recent US attacks.
The increasing waves of attacks come days after a ceasefire between the two sides appeared to have completely collapsed amid fears of a return to all-out war.
The latest round of attacks targeted Iran’s military capabilities “used to threaten ships transiting freely through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global trade,” U.S. military central command said in a statement late Wednesday.
Iranian media said four points around the city of Ahvaz, as well as Bandar Abbas, the main port city of the Strait of Hormuz, arrived. The missiles also hit near Sirik and Qeshm in southern Iran.
Tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran have intensified since Tehran announced on Saturday it would close the strait; This has once again endangered the movement of maritime traffic on the vital waterway, which before the war carried around a fifth of global oil and gas supplies.
The United States reimposed a naval blockade of Iran on Wednesday. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded by threatening to halt all energy exports from the Middle East, saying “regional energy exports are either shared by all or rejected by all.”
Oil prices have continued to rise throughout recent bullish waves; The price of Brent crude, the international standard, traded above $85 a barrel on Wednesday; 15% higher than the pre-war price, but still well below the approximately $120 reached at the height of the conflict.
Donald Trump once again claimed on Wednesday that Iran will “soon be defeated.” Speaking in Pennsylvania, the US president claimed that Iranians “want to get along very badly.” On Tuesday, Trump said U.S. negotiators had been in contact with their Iranian counterparts and told them “you better make a deal.”
Trump suggested the United States could expand attacks on Iran to force it to open the strait, with the US president warning he would strike “Mt.
Weeks after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at ending the war and restarting talks on the country’s nuclear program, Tehran’s chief negotiator warned that the MoU would only have meaning “if its clauses are valid and implemented” and suggested that further talks were jeopardized by the latest wave of attacks.
“If we do not want Iran to gain any benefit from the memorandum of understanding, there is no reason for us to comply with it,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement.
Galibaf stated that his country’s security depends on the maintenance of what he called “Iranian regulations” in the strait, adding that Iran is in a “fundamental and existential war with America”.
Iran’s military spokesman said the only way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is for the United States to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding. Experts said the lack of clarity in the MoU’s terms and the inclusion of language suggesting Iran could assume responsibility for the “safe passage of ships” in the strait contributed to the confusion that has characterized the Trump administration’s strategy in recent weeks.
Despite the escalating hostilities, Trump was willing to trumpet a possible signal of goodwill between the two sides late Wednesday. The US president said Iran allowed an “unjustly detained” American to leave the country in late 2024.
“The United States appreciates this goodwill gesture from Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Human rights lawyer Jared Genser stated that the released American was Dena Karari, who has been prevented from leaving Iran since December 2024. “Dena is now safe and returning to the United States,” Genser wrote on social media, thanking Trump for his efforts to release her.
