US launches second round of strikes on Iran as peace in region dissolves
The US military confirmed it had launched a new wave of attacks against Iran, after several of Washington’s Gulf allies were targeted by incoming fire in renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest salvo by US forces began at 8am NZT today, Central Command (Centcom) said on X. It had earlier confirmed approximately 140 strikes the previous night.
The flare-up is the latest to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending their war, which has caused global economic shockwaves since it began in late February.
Oil prices, which have tumbled since the announcement of the agreement, rose more than 3.5% when futures trading opened today in Tokyo, with the US benchmark WTI jumping above US$74 ($128) a barrel.
Iran reported strikes on two of its southern islands while Kuwait, where Tehran has repeatedly targeted US installations, said border posts and an offshore oil platform had been attacked.
The renewed fighting followed an Iranian attack early on Sunday on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, with its crew forced to abandon it after it went up in flames.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said after the incident that “the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region”, according to state news agency IRNA.
Centcom countered on X that the strait was “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit”. It said US forces were “positioned and prepared to ensure” freedom of navigation, adding: “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.”
Control of the waterway has become key leverage for Iran, with an adviser to the country’s supreme leader on Sunday saying it was more important than “dozens of atomic bombs”.
Mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution for ending the war after US President Donald Trump last week declared a ceasefire over.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US attacks on Sunday had “caused the return of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz” and “have rendered futile all efforts” at establishing peace in the region.
On Sunday evening, Iranian state media reported at least 10 “enemy projectiles” hitting Qeshm Island, which sits in the Strait of Hormuz.
It also reported strikes on the island of Farur, to the east of Qeshm in the Gulf, that it said killed a telecommunications worker and wounded two others.
Shortly afterwards, Kuwait said three of its land border posts in the north were damaged in an attack, and that an offshore drilling platform “was targeted by a hostile drone”, with one person injured.
Tehran said it had targeted two ships in Hormuz early on Sunday, including the one that caught fire.
The American military said it had responded with strikes on about 140 targets, and Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask and on Qeshm, as well as in Khuzestan province, with one soldier reported killed.
The top diplomat for Pakistan, which has been mediating, called for “de-escalation” on Sunday during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Islamabad said.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said: “Dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving disputes and achieving lasting peace.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called for peace, with his spokesman saying “these attacks must stop”.
– AFP
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