Iran closes Strait of Hormuz, US launches third round of strikes

Tensions flared sharply over the weekend after Iran announced a temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the United States confirmed the launch of a third wave of military strikes against Iranian targets this week.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy announced on Sunday that it has temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz until further notice, following what it described as a warning-shot incident against a vessel inside the strategic waterway.

In a statement issued in the early hours of Sunday, the IRGC said the incident was caused by "illegal foreign interference" and warned that no ships would be permitted to transit while the United States continues its military operations in the region.

The US Central Command said in a post on social media platform X that US forces launched the third round of strikes this week in the early hours of Sunday local time against Iran in retaliation for what it said was an assault on a Cyprus-flagged container ship while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Shortly after the US strikes, Iran said it had also launched a series of strikes against US targets in the Middle East, Press TV reported on Sunday. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar came under attack, reports said.

The latest developments follow an exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran that began last Friday, triggered by alleged Iranian strikes on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.

Such attacks led US President Donald Trump to declare the end of a ceasefire meant to halt the fighting that the US and Israel began on February 28, though Trump has left the door open to continued ‌negotiations.

Hormuz back in focus

In the Sunday statement, the IRGC said several ships attempted to move through the waterway on an "unauthorized route" and disregarded warnings to correct their course. The strait will remain closed until "the end of U.S. interference in this region," it said.

The US Central Command said it began its strikes at 7:15 p.m. ET (2315 GMT) on Saturday, roughly an hour after the Iranians released their statement, which included a warning that "new enemy bases" in the Middle East would be targeted if the United States retaliated for the container ship incident.

Trump ordered the strikes, it added.

The latest developments came after reports said on Saturday that Oman, a key mediator, and Iran had agreed to continue technical and political talks on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met in Oman to exchange "views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz," according to ​a statement from Araghchi.

Following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, Tehran tightened its control over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil trade passes. The US imposed a naval blockade on the strait in April, preventing ships traveling to and from Iranian ports from transiting the waterway, before lifting it in mid-June.

The Iran war has destabilized the Gulf, while the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused energy prices to surge, fueling global inflation.

(With input from agencies)