US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — USA attacked Iran In an attack by Iran on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Sunday morning, the container ship was set on fire and its crew was forced to abandon ship. Iran apparently responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
The Bosphorus has become a key point in negotiations to permanently end the war between Iran and the United States, which started on February 28. Before the war began, approximately one-fifth of traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait. Iran’s dominance during the war led to a global energy crisis. Oil prices fell sharply $120 a barrel is the highest since wartime.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said it hit about 140 targets in the strikes, far more than in the last two rounds, and went after missile and drone launch sites, ammunition depots, communications equipment and other facilities.
It was stated that the attacks “reduced Iran’s ability to attack civilian sailors and commercial ships passing freely through the strait.”
New crossfire in Persian Gulf comes days later US President Donald Trump He suggested that an interim agreement was “over” in the Iran war.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote online: “Iran made a bad choice. Now they are paying the price.”
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and chief negotiator, responded.
“The era of unilateral agreements is over,” he wrote to X. “We told you: Keep your word or pay the price. The truth is knocking on the door.”
The United States launched three rounds of airstrikes targeting Iran last week over Iranian attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz using a route aimed at avoiding the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters. Tehran has retaliated by attacking countries in the region that host US military forces, while insisting that it alone controls the strait and potentially imposes a toll on ships passing through it.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE attacked
Missile alerts were issued in many Gulf Arab countries.
Qatar’s military said in a statement that explosions were heard in the neighboring United Arab Emirates and that it intercepted fire from Iran.
Qatar Ministry of Internal Affairs said that three people, including a child, were injured as a result of the falling piece of shrapnel that prevented Iran’s attacks.
Meanwhile, missile alerts were sounded for the third time on Sunday in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. The Kuwaiti army also said that it responded to the incoming fire.
Oman’s state news agency said the drones hit areas in the Strait of Hormuz in northeastern Oman. Iran had previously claimed responsibility for attacks against Oman, but the sultanate did not accept this. The attack came after talks between the two countries on Saturday.
The UAE said Sunday’s attacks occurred outside the country’s borders, despite the morning sirens blaring. So far, the UAE has not been targeted in Iran’s latest attacks. The last attack on Emirates, which hosts Abu Dhabi and Dubai, took place in May. A drone sparked a fire on the edge of the country’s only nuclear power plant.
Iran has also made a number of claims about attacks elsewhere that were not immediately confirmed.
A Cypriot-flagged container ship was hit by Iran in a Strait of Hormuz attack and suffered “significant engine room damage” and a civilian crew member was missing, US Central Command said in a statement early Sunday morning.
The UK Merchant Marine Operations centre, which is overseen by the British military, said the ship was traveling on a route covering the Omani coastline. This was how ships entered and exited the Persian Gulf, avoiding Iranian territorial waters. The center said that the ship’s crew abandoned the ship, which was engulfed in flames.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said many ships “ignored our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed on the approved route.” One of them was “hit with a warning shot and stopped.”
Iran said the strait would remain closed “until further notice” and would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced further attacks.
Iranian state media reported that the United States launched an attack on large parts of the entire country, including southern Iran in the state closest to the Strait of Hormuz and military sites in a province near Tehran.
The attacks came after diplomatic talks regarding the Bosphorus.
The latest violence occurred after the foreign ministers of Iran and Oman met on Saturday to discuss the strait, following days of clashes. Iran attack on ships And US retaliation This dealt a blow to the interim agreement to end the war. The bottleneck is in the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman but has long been considered an international waterway.
Oman said this and Iran agreed to continue discussing the Strait of Hormuz “at the technical and political level”. However, Iran did not make any statement that the strait was open to everyone, as the Trump administration wanted.
Iran’s new religious leader, not seen since the beginning of the war, also made the promise in his first statement since the war. Funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali KhameneiHe said the Iranians would avenge his killing in the opening attacks of the war on February 28.
Such revenge “is the will of our nation and must be fulfilled.” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei In the statement made on state television, it was said:
US questions who is responsible in Iran
U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity Friday. Current situation with IranHe said the resumption of strikes even before the latest round was a result of what they described as a rogue group of Iranian hardliners trying to sabotage the ceasefire.
Iran insisted that its theocracy was united under the rule of the new religious leader.
New attacks on Iran after the US completed the attacks on Thursday raised questions about who else could target the Islamic Republic.
Israel did not demand these; This means that the Gulf Arab states may have launched these attacks, possibly to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran retaliated against US attacks on Thursday by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.
Iran Ministry of Health spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said that at least 17 people died and 115 people were injured in two attacks in Iran last week.
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Weissert reported from Washington.
