US and Iran vie for Strait of Hormuz, waterway key to global energy supplies, in latest attacks
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — United States and Iranian each claimed to have checked on Monday Strait of Hormuz It follows a weekend of attacks that have spread throughout the Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy aimed at ending the war.
The attacks, sparked by Iran’s attack on a container ship in the strait off the coast of Oman on Sunday, underlined once again that the waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s traded crude oil and natural gas once passed, remains the main subject of negotiations. The narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf has caused disruptions to shipping since the start of the war, as Iran continues to attack merchant shipping around it, frightening shippers and choking it.
Iran and the USA are almost in the middle of the road 60 day period Signing of an interim agreement to initiate negotiations for a permanent end to the war. Instead, he turned to a series of attacks on the strait and its future, leaving world leaders concerned that the war on Iran could continue full force.
“A return to full-scale hostilities would result in disaster,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement. he said.
USA announced that it hit dozens of targets in Iran
The US military’s Central Command said its forces hit dozens of sites in Monday’s strikes, including air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” Central Command said. “Iran doesn’t control this.”
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also called for the strait to be open as it was before the war.
“The Strait of Hormuz should be opened and freedom of navigation should be respected,” he said.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a key center of power in the country’s theocracy and control of its ballistic missile arsenal, harshly rejected the American statement.
“The Strait of Hormuz is our territory, and we will not allow an army of bandits and child murderers from the other side of the world to continue their illegal intervention here,” the Guards said.
Missile warning sirens sounded three times Monday in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait said it intercepted enemy fire. There is no statement yet regarding the damage in either country.
In Jordan, the kingdom’s military said four Iranian missiles were shot down in an incident that “resulted in zero casualties or property damage.” Jordan also hosts US military forces and aircraft.
In Iran, authorities reported attacks in Hormozgan, Khuzestan and Markazi provinces, killing at least two people, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Semi-official Iranian media also reported attacks on the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan.
Iran’s attacks on Sunday extended to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and even Oman, which forms a territorial waters strait with Iran. Oman, which has long been the interlocutor between Tehran and the West, summoned an Iranian diplomat to criticize the attack.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a base belonging to the armed wing of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Kurdistan Freedom Party, located in the semi-autonomous Northern Kurdistan region of Iraq, was attacked by a drone. Kurdistan Militia Corps commander Rebaz Sharifi said that the attacks targeted the group’s Chamshar base, but did not provide details on deaths and damage. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
Conflicts focus on the status of the Bosphorus
The U.S. military said early Sunday it had struck nearly 140 targets, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition depots, communications equipment and other areas; This was a much heavier set of attacks than the previous two rounds of attacks last week.
“We bombed them last night” US President Donald Trump he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
While Iran has retaliated by attacking countries in the region hosting US military forces, it has insisted that it alone controls the strait and potentially charges ships passing through it.
While Iran stated that the strait was closed, the US military and Trump claimed that the strait remained open.
However, Iran’s control over the strait was loosened as the US army provided support to the ships advancing along the southern route covering the Oman coastline. This new route angered Iran, which has repeatedly attacked ships using it.
Iran’s dominance in the Bosphorus has led to a global energy crisis Oil prices fell sharply $120 a barrel is the highest since wartime.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei held Washington responsible for the chaos that affected the Middle East.
“Given the fourteen articles of the memorandum, the Americans in this short period, one way or another, butchered various components of the memorandum,” Baghaei told reporters on Monday. he said.
Baghaei also said Iran would not accept a visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iranian nuclear sites bombed by the United States in 2025, where Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is believed to still exist.
The attacks came after diplomatic talks regarding the Bosphorus.
Trump claimed last week that the interim agreement on the war was “over.” However, mediators including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt ongoing efforts reach a final agreement to end the war.
Efforts to support the ceasefire continued Sunday, a regional official involved in the mediation said on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks. Pakistan said its foreign minister spoke to Iran’s top diplomat over the phone and called on both sides to “de-escalate tensions”.
Iran’s new religious leader Ayatollah Mojtaba KhameneiHe was sworn in in his first statement on Saturday, a move not seen since the beginning of the war. Funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali KhameneiThe Iranians would take revenge for his murder.
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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Stella Martany in Erbil, Iraq contributed to this report.
