Fresh attacks in the Gulf spark fears of renewed war with Iran
BEIRUT — Confusion reigned on Monday over the fate of the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran after a new wave of attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Oman, as well as reports of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, undermined confidence in the ceasefire.
The drone and missile strikes, the first since a ceasefire halted hostilities in early April, came after the Trump administration launched a large-scale naval operation on Monday to “guide” stranded naval vessels through the vital waterway.
But fears of a return to war caused a new surge in oil prices, pushing prices above $114 per barrel; These levels are unseen since the ceasefire almost a month ago. Hundreds of cargo ships from dozens of countries were stranded in the Gulf. Strikes in Dubai have also raised concerns that international air travel will be further disrupted at one of the world’s busiest airports.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said the new US operation was part of President Trump’s “delirium” after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that passage through the strait required Tehran’s prior approval.
“We warn that any foreign armed forces, especially the occupying American army, will be attacked if they try to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz,” Major General Ali Abdullahi said, according to a statement reported by the Iranian state Mehr News Agency on Monday.
The operation that Trump called “” over the weekendProject FreedomIt is supported by 15,000 US troops and 100 aircraft, according to US Central Command. Their goal is to deny Tehran control over the strait, a narrow 21-mile-wide passage through which one-fifth of global energy supplies flow.
On Monday, Trump said Iranian forces “Blown off the face of the Earth“If they try to thwart the Freedom Project.
“We have a lot more guns and ammunition than we ever had before,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with Fox News.
“We have the best equipment. We have supplies all over the world. We have these bases all over the world. They’re all full of equipment. We can use all of it, and if we need it, we will.”
Iran blocked traffic in the strait immediately after the United States and Israel launched their attack on the country. Last month, just days after a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran took effect, the United States imposed its own naval blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to pressure Iran to make concessions in stalled negotiations.
In the statement made by the Central Command on Monday, it was stated that two American-flagged merchant ships managed to pass through the strait successfully, while the head of the Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said that the US army sank six Iranian boats and prevented missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles targeting civilian ships.
“We have defeated each of these threats through the clinical application of defensive munitions,” he said.
“Project Freedom is a defensive operation and we have deployed anti-ballistic missile destroyers,” he added. “The ships in the Gulf waters belong to 87 countries and we urge the ships to cross the strait.”
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB quoted a senior Iranian military official as denying Cooper’s claim that he sank Iranian boats. In a statement on the messaging application Telegram, the Revolutionary Guard said that claims that commercial ships or tankers passed through the strait were “baseless and completely false”.
Although Cooper did not say whether the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was now over, a series of attacks throughout Monday raised fears of a resumption of war and led to sharp price increases in already tense energy markets.
The UAE said that following the incident, which Iran described as a drone attack, a fire broke out in the Fujairah Oil Industrial Zone, an important export center for the country, and three Indian citizens were injured.
He also accused Iran of targeting a tanker affiliated with the country’s state oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, in the Strait of Hormuz, while the country’s defense ministry reported that it intercepted three of the four cruise missiles launched from Iran, while the fourth fell into the sea.
“These attacks constitute a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable violation,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it “reserves the full and legitimate right to respond to these attacks.”
Elsewhere, two foreign workers were injured in an attack on a residential building in Oman’s coastal district of Bukha, the state-run Oman News Agency said, citing an unnamed security source. Authorities are investigating the incident but have not provided detailed information about the perpetrator.
The UK Merchant Marine Operations Center reported on Monday that a commercial ship burned off the coast of the UAE, while a South Korean bulk carrier reported an explosion and a fire in the engine room and the cause was being investigated.
Bulos reported from Beirut and Wilner from Washington.
