Tehran threatens to halt all Mideast energy exports after US reimposes its blockade on Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — More than 260 people were injured in the latest round of overnight U.S. airstrikes on Iran, a Health Ministry official said Wednesday.
Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour’s comment did not include death statistics.
However, many more people were reportedly injured than in other recent violence between Iran and the United States, which compete for control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of all oil and gas trade once passed.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Below is AP’s earlier story.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military reimposed a blockade of Iranian ports early Wednesday over Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through Strait of HormuzThis sparked new attacks on countries hosting American forces, an interim agreement that further exposed the war.
Days of retaliatory attacks by Iran in the Middle East and efforts by both countries to seize control of the waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas trade passes in peacetime threaten to push the region back into all-out war.
The United States first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then lifted it in mid-June, a day after signing the interim agreement that set a 60-day period for negotiations on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, but negotiations remain stalled over Iran’s nuclear program. fight over throat intensified.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened on Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East due to the blockade.
“Oil and gas exports from the region will either benefit everyone or benefit no one,” he said.
When he became President of the United States Donald Trump While announcing the return of the blockade on Monday, he also said that he would impose a 20 percent fee on ships passing through the strait. But hours before resuming the blockade, he abandoned the plan to collect fees, citing demands from his allies in the Persian Gulf.
Upon the reimposition of the blockade, both the USA and Iran launched attacks
The United States launched a new wave of attacks as it reimposed the blockade, hitting dozens of targets in seven hours, the U.S. military’s Central Command said on Wednesday.
Missile alert warnings were issued early Wednesday morning in Bahrain and Kuwait, which faced fire from Iran; This was a daily occurrence and made a ceasefire in the war even more difficult. Jordan also said it shot down three missiles from Iran. Iran claimed responsibility for attacks on three countries.
Central Command Commander US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper said in a statement that Iran launched dozens of missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to neighboring Gulf Arab countries.
“US forces hold Iran accountable for unwarranted attacks that continue to endanger innocent lives,” Cooper said.
There are at least 19 US warships in the Arabian Sea, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship with more than 1,000 sailors. Central Command also said in a social media post that “hundreds of military aircraft are operating in the Middle East.”
When the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the passage by attacking and threatening ships. This led to increased prices of oil, fertilizer and other goods.
Iran recently triggered recent violence by attacking ships passing through the strait on a route near Oman that is controlled by the US military, outside Tehran’s control. There is USA He threatened to open the strait by force – but experts say this would require a much larger navy, if not tens of thousands of ground troops.
Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized America’s ongoing attacks on his country.
“The United States is not a victim, but an aggressor,” he wrote to the leader of the world organization, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Trump says he will replace wages with Gulf investments
Trump said on Tuesday that he had been called by the region’s “kings and emirs” and that they had suggested an alternative arrangement for charging ships for passage through the strait, as the president had suggested a day earlier.
“They said we’d love to do it differently. We’d love to invest billions of dollars in the United States,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Trump said he preferred this arrangement rather than charging a toll because “I don’t think anyone should be able to charge a fee for the strait.”
It was unclear whether the investment agreements would be new commitments compared to the agreements Trump announced after his visit to the Middle East last year.
Trump’s plan to charge a fee would be a change in longstanding American policy and a departure from US promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls.
Trump told Fox News Channel on Tuesday night that there would be new attacks on Iran in the next two days and that bridges and power plants could be targeted next week unless negotiations continue. The United States has already crossed at least one bridge.
“You better make a deal, or you’ll be left with nothing,” Trump warned.
Strikes and counter-attacks continue in the Middle East
U.S. Central Command said it struck several sites in Iran early Tuesday; Tehran acknowledged the attacks but did not provide an overall assessment of casualties or damage.
According to IRNA news agency, hours after the US announced that it had ended its attacks, Iran’s city of Bushehr in the Persian Gulf was hit from at least four places. Iranian state media reported explosions on Tuesday night in the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
The attacks once again raised the possibility of Gulf Arab states retaliating against Iran without public discussion.
Kuwait also said four members of its navy were injured and a building was set on fire in an Iranian attack on Tuesday.
Interim peace agreement in danger
Under interim agreementIran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free for 60 days, but what would happen after the agreement remained open. Iran maintains it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees. The USA objected to this.
The barrel price of Brent crude oil, which is the international standard, It briefly rose above $87 early Tuesdaystill well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war. The price fell to $78 after Trump announced he was changing course.
Meanwhile, regional mediators are still trying to get the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.
