The U.S. military launched new attacks on Iran Tuesday in retaliation for Iranian attacks against commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.
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“U.S. Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” CENTCOM said. “The U.S. strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”
The attacks come as U.S. and Iranian officials have been negotiating about maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20% of the world’s oil passed before the war.
Iran has argued that it has a right to charge a fee for ships passing through the strait.
U.S. military strikes continued against Iran on Tuesday evening and were described by a U.S. official as bigger than previous U.S. retaliatory strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. military is targeting air defenses, coastal surveillance sites, surface to air missile (SAM) sites, anti-ship cruise missile sites, drone launch sites, and port facilities, the U.S. official said.
The strikes are being carried out with Air Force jets and Navy Tactical aircraft, according to the U.S. official.
One video posted online and verified by NBC News shows multiple explosions at a port in the city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran as a stream of cars drive by the site on a nearby road.
The U.S. also revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that had allowed for the sale of Iranian oil on the global market on Tuesday because of Iran’s attacks.
The revoked waiver, listed on the Treasury Department’s website, said the move was effective immediately. It also said that any production, delivery or sale of Iranian oil must be wound down by July 17.
The waiver had originally allowed sales until August 21.
One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the U.K. maritime agency said.
Oil prices surged from around $69 to nearly $73, a nearly 6% increase after weeks of relative calm in oil markets, with the latest Iran developments.
A similar exchange of attacks took place in late June when Iran attacked a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. military retaliated with 10 attacks on what it described as “military targets” in and around the strait. Iran than escalated the situation further by carrying out attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.
The new attacks raise questions about the possibility of finalizing a lasting agreement to end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28.
President Donald Trump and Iranian officials signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June, which kicked off a 60-day period to negotiate a deal.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner traveled to Doha, Qatar last week and held talks with Qatari mediators but did not meet directly with Iranian negotiators who were also in Doha.
Among the most difficult issues which remain to be negotiated are possible restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The talks appear to have been paused this week as Iran has held massive funeral events for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvo of the war.
Mojtaba, the 56-year old son of Khamenei, was named his successor in March but has not appeared in public or even issued an audio statement since assuming the highest post in the country.
Khamenei’s casket was displayed in Qom, the Iranian seat of religious scholarship, on Tuesday and Iranian officials have said funeral events will take place Wednesday in Iraq, which is home to two of the holiest shrines for Shiites.
Taking the funeral across the border to Iraq will allow the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the most powerful military, political and economic force in Iran, to highlight their regional prominence.
