The United States attacked Iran early Sunday over an Iranian strike on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it on fire and left a crew member missing. Iran responded with attacks targeting several countries in the Middle East, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman – the country on the other side of the strait that Tehran wants to join in managing traffic there.
The fighting has raised new questions about the interim agreement reached by Iran and the United States on June 17, starting a 60-day period aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war. The halfway point for that period comes during the week.
The strait, a major route for global oil and natural gas supplies, has become the main sticking point in the negotiations, and fighting over the past week has left the negotiations in danger of collapsing.
The US military’s Central Command said it hit about 140 targets in Sunday’s strikes, including missile launch sites, drones, ammunition depots, communications equipment and other sites. She said the attacks, more violent than in recent days, would weaken Iran’s ability to threaten shipping.
“We bombed them hard last night,” President Donald Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Semi-official Iranian news agencies reported the killing of a naval officer. Iran has responded by attacking countries in the region that host US military forces, while insisting that it alone should control the strait and possibly impose fees on ships to travel through it.
“The era of unilateral deals is over,” wrote Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and one of the main negotiators. “We told you: Keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking on the door.”
The United States launched three rounds of air strikes targeting Iran last week in response to Iranian attacks on ships heading through the strait using a route off Oman, seeking to avoid the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.
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About a fifth of all oil and natural gas trade passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s hold on it has led to a global energy crisis, although oil prices have fallen sharply since reaching wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
The US military and Trump confirmed that the strait remained open on Sunday. Iran said the strait was closed until calm was restored, and that it would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more attacks.
Oman summons the Iranian ambassador to protest the attack
Missile warnings sounded in a number of Gulf Arab countries early on Sunday.
The Qatari army said it intercepted incoming Iranian fire, while explosions were heard in the neighboring United Arab Emirates. The Qatari Ministry of Interior said that three people, including a child, were injured as a result of shrapnel intercepting Iranian attacks, without providing further details about their condition.
Missile warnings went off in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf and home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The Kuwaiti army also said it intercepted incoming fire.
The Omani News Agency said that drones bombed sites in an area located on the Strait of Hormuz and issued a warning to residents of the region to remain in place. The attack came a day after Oman and Iran held talks on the Strait.
Oman summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the strikes, the first step of its kind since the start of the war, and described Iran’s actions as “irresponsible.”
Three Iranian missiles hit areas across Jordan, causing minor damage but no casualties, the official Jordanian news agency reported.
Sirens also sounded in the UAE, but the government said the missiles did not cross its territory.
Iranian strike on ship damages Indian crew
US Central Command said a Cyprus-flagged container ship was struck by Iran and suffered “significant damage to the engine room.”
The Omani Maritime Authority said it rescued 23 crew members, but one of them is missing. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that the missing man is an Indian citizen and that it is working with Oman to locate him.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre, which is overseen by the British military, said the ship was hugging the coast of Oman.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said several ships “ignored our warnings” and ignored instructions to follow what it described as the approved route. “One of them was hit by a warning shot and was stopped.”
Iranian state media later reported US strikes across the country, including southern Iran in the province closest to the strait and military sites in a province close to Tehran.
The attacks followed further diplomatic talks on the Strait
The Strait is located in the territorial waters of Iran and the Sultanate of Oman, but has long been considered an international waterway.
Oman said on Saturday that it and Iran agreed to continue discussing the Strait “at both the technical and political levels.” Iran did not provide any statement regarding opening the Strait to everyone, which was sought by the Trump administration.
Trump indicated last week that the interim agreement in the war was “over.” But mediators, including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt, continued their efforts to reach an agreement. A regional official involved in the mediation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss those talks, said efforts to support the ceasefire were continuing on Sunday.
Iran’s new supreme leader, who has not yet appeared since the war began, pledged on Saturday in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing in the opening strikes of the war on February 28.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement broadcast on state television that such revenge “is the will of our nation and must certainly be implemented.”
