U.S. 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 appears to have responded to this with attacks targeting Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
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 “weakened 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.”
Bahrain, Qatar and UAE were all attacked
The United Arab Emirates on Sunday warned the public of a missile and drone attack as explosions could be heard in nearby Qatar. Shortly after the explosions, a missile alert was issued in Qatar. The Qatar army said in a statement that it prevented the fire from Iran.
Meanwhile, missile alerts rang out in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
It was not immediately clear which places were under attack in the UAE, which have not so far been targeted in Iran’s recent 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.
US Central Command said that a Cypriot-flagged container ship was hit by Iran in the attack in the Strait of Hormuz and suffered “significant engine room damage” and a civilian crew was missing.
The UK Merchant Marine Operations centre, which is overseen by the British military, said the ship was proceeding on a route covering the Oman coastline. The ships were sailing in and out of 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.
US strikes against Iran apparently targeted Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as other areas along the strait, Iranian state media reported. Iran did not provide any information on casualties or damage.
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 talking about the Strait of Hormuz “at a 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,” he said. 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.
Weissert reported from Washington.
