US military carries out new attacks on Iran, Tehran announces it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again

The US military carried out new strikes on Iran after the country hit a container ship on Monday, while Tehran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz again and stepped up attacks on US facilities in countries across the Gulf, Reuters reports.

A series of mutual attacks between the United States (US) and Iran over the past few days has led US President Donald Trump to declare an end to the ceasefire, which was supposed to stop the conflicts that the US and Israel began on February 28, although Trump left the door open for continued negotiations.

Iran said it had closed the strait after firing a warning shot that hit a ship traveling an unauthorized route. It warned that any retaliation over the incident would be met with "fierce response."

US Central Command, however, said commercial ships were still passing through the waterway, which before the war transported a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

Iran accelerates and expands attack targets

Central Command said US forces struck 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday, out of more than 300 over three nights of attacks, "to degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait."

Iranian state media reported explosions in several port cities.

In response, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said today that it had destroyed a command and control center and drone hangars at a base in US-ally Jordan, and that it had targeted a US military radar site in Kuwait, attacked platforms supporting and refueling US aircraft carriers in Oman, and destroyed a fighter jet maintenance center and command and control facility in Qatar.

The Guard also said it had hit and disabled another ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said its air defense systems had acted against missiles and drones from Iran, while sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were heard in Doha.

Tehran's attacks represent a sharp acceleration of operations and a broadening of its target selection. Iran has targeted sites in Kuwait and Bahrain in recent weeks, while avoiding attacks on Qatar since early April and the UAE since early May.

The war destabilized the Gulf, while Iran's effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz caused a sharp rise in energy prices, fueled global inflation and increased fears of an economic slowdown.

Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of the November congressional elections.

Iran said several ships attempted to pass through the waterway "by unauthorized route" and ignored warnings to change course. The strait will remain closed until "the end of American interference in this region," the Revolutionary Guard said.

"Keep your word or pay the price," Iran says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement.

"Only mutual respect for obligations is possible," he wrote on the X platform on Friday.

Chief Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced today on the Iks platform: "The era of unilateral agreements is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking at the door."

The United States on Tuesday revoked a license that allowed the sale of Iranian crude oil after three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier this week, prompting the United States to attack Iranian positions. Iran then struck American military installations in the Gulf states.

Although Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on the ships, analysts say Tehran is using such actions to strengthen its position in negotiations, according to Reuters.

Araqchi 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 the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Oman's state news agency said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks "at the technical and political levels."

A written statement from Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday threatened revenge for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed in the initial attacks of the war. The statement said revenge would be carried out regardless of what happens to Iran.

"We swear to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all martyrs," the message stated.

The statement came as funeral ceremonies for former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were held on Thursday. His son did not attend the ceremonies and has not been seen in public since the war began.