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The United States has resumed blocking Iranian ports after another day of exchanges with Iran that appear to have ended their peace deal.
The US military said its blockade of ships going “from Iranian ports and coastal areas” came into effect at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday evening.
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The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) also announced that it has launched new strikes in Iran, shortly after Iranian media announced US airstrikes in or near the cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
CENTCOM said its latest attack was aimed at “degrading Iranian capabilities used against merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian officials and state media reported that the US would strike the city of Abadan, the oldest oil refinery in the Middle East, the port of Mahshahr, Qeshm Island and Kish Island.
CENTCOM launched a series of attacks through Iran on Monday nightincluding the attack on Bushhr and Bandar Abbas.
Iran responded by striking two ships in Omani waters in the Strait of Hormuz, killing a crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates. Iran retaliated on Tuesday in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
“This is a low-level war going on,” Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said in Tehran, Iran. “And, of course, there are concerns that if things escalate, there could be a return to full-scale war.”
“It’s been another difficult 24 hours for the Gulf states and Jordan as Iranian terrorists continue to cross the region,” Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby reported from Doha, Qatar.
‘Cycle of escalation’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has admitted to striking two large ships on Tuesday, saying they were disabled after repeated warnings were ignored. The IRGC accused the US of “encouraging ships to use an illegal route” and said cooperation with a “brutal enemy” would only lead to damage, delaying the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a global energy crisis.
Mediator Qatar condemned the attack on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, while Oman called on all parties involved to respect international laws on navigation in the strait.
The International Maritime Agency expressed concern over the latest attacks in the sea, which it said had killed two sailors, and said “this trend must stop”.
The IRGC also said it had attacked US military bases in Jordan, while Bahrain, which hosts a US military base, said it had foiled an Iranian airstrike.
Later on Tuesday evening, Kuwait said its forces were fighting “hostile” aerial attacks, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry also said sirens had sounded.
In the middle of the hike, Trump said he was to remove the planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which he announced the day before, instead of a fee for trade with Gulf allies.
“I have decided to change 20% of the United States Reimbursement Fee and Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will make to the United States,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.
‘They shot first’
Speaking from the White House later, Trump accused Iran of being responsible for the recent escalation of hostilities, which started on July 7.
“They shot first, and it was a big mistake they shot first because we’ve been giving them hell.” They are very difficult people,” said Trump, who last week said. deemed the US-Iran MoU signed on June 17 “expired” and on Friday he notified Congress that the US has resumed military action against Iran.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says Trump still appears to be holding back the Iranians’ willingness to return to talks if the US applies enough pressure.
But “gambling”, he told Al Jazeera, warning that this strategy could escalate, because Iran has shown that it will respond to pressure and retaliate instead of accepting it.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused the US of undermining the agreement and violating all terms of the agreement, according to comments reported by Iranian media.
He added that Iran currently has no commitments under the MoU, including on the Strait of Hormuz, and that the US is wrong if it believes it can push Tehran back into negotiations by blocking itself.
