The US says it is carrying out new strikes on Iran as the cease-fire weakens | US-Israel War on Iran News

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The United States military has announced that it will launch another attack on Iran, a day after launching another series of attacks.

The escalation is the largest since both sides signed a cease-fire memorandum of understanding (MoU) in mid-June and has threatened to return to full-scale warfare.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that under the leadership of President Donald Trump, its forces “will begin further strikes against Iran to destroy its ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.

“The United States blames Iran for recent acts of aggression against commercial shipping and the free movement of civilians along an important international waterway,” CENTCOM said.

The news came shortly after Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that the air defense carried out what it described as “hostile” attacks near the port of Bandar Abbas, as well as explosions near Konarak, Chabahar and Bushehr.

Both the US and Iran accused the other of violating the agreement, which ended in a fight, lifted the blockade of US forces in Iran, and opened the Strait of Hormuz, leaving many problems, such as the future of Iran’s nuclear program and the management of the strait, to be determined during the 60-day period.

The main point of the dispute seems to be above the fifth paragraph of the MoU, which states that Iran “will arrange to use its efforts to facilitate commercial shipping, without payment for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of ​​Oman, and vice versa”.

Iran interpreted the order to mean that it had “sole responsibility to know the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”, Finance Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday. This has been used to justify attacks on illegal ships crossing the river.

The Trump administration has insisted that the MoU is intended to go to all ships without restrictions, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington, DC.

“Since signing the memorandum of understanding, and opening a 60-day window to allow for more negotiations, the US has insisted that any upheaval in conflict and armed conflict is the result of Iran taking control of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Halkett, “which the White House says is a global strategic and economic imperative for the world.”

Speaking on Wednesday, Trump said the exchange of violencewhich saw Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attack US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, means the ceasefire is “over”.

However, he said he didn’t want to go back to real war and said that the negotiations should continue.

Speaking from the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump also listed a laundry list of threats to Iran.

In addition to further strikes, Trump said the US could restore its naval blockade of Iran and target its energy and water facilities – attacks that international legal experts say are war crimes.

He also said that the US military “could seize” Iran’s Kharg Island, a prospect that would require boots on the ground.