The US has launched \u201cpowerful\u201d strikes on Iran in response to attacks on three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday it had hit over 80 targets, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats in the strait.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister called the US attacks a violation of the US-Iran memorandum signed last month, and warned that Tehran would \u201ctake decisive measures\u201d.<\/p>\n
Iranian state media said strikes hit Qeshm island, Bandar Abbas and Sirik, where people have been injured by shrapnel. Iran has not directly claimed responsibility for the attacks on the three tankers that led to the US launching strikes.<\/p>\n
Centcom said in addition to the 60 small boats, it had struck Iranian missile launch sites and command centres. It did not give locations of its targets.<\/p>\n
The US had said there would be consequences to what it has called the \u201cwholly unacceptable\u201d attacks on the three tankers.<\/p>\n
Centcom said the US strikes were\u201dto impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent individuals in an international waterway\u201d.<\/p>\n
Before the strikes, the US Treasury revoked a waiver that had temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran, and was part of the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran last month.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s foreign ministry called the move a breach of the memorandum and said it proved the \u201cbad faith, inconsistency, and unreliability\u201d of the US government.<\/p>\n
It added that Tehran \u201cwill take whatever measures it considers necessary to safeguard its national interests and national security\u201d.<\/p>\n
Qatar and Saudi Arabia also denounced the attacks, each saying a tanker from its country had been hit while transiting in or near the strait, and blaming Iran.<\/p>\n
Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said it held Iran \u201cfully responsible\u201d for an apparent targeted attack on a vessel called Al-Rekayyat as it transited near the strait.<\/p>\n
In a separate social media post, Saudi Arabia\u2019s foreign ministry said Iran had targeted the Saudi tanker Wadyan as it crossed the strait.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei described Qatar\u2019s accusations as \u201ccontrary to the principle of good neighbourliness\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added that commercial vessels using routes not co-ordinated with Iran or tampering with the ship\u2019s tracking face a risk of collision and disrupt Iran\u2019s efforts to \u201cfacilitate safe transit\u201d in the strait.<\/p>\n
The UKMTO said a tanker travelling through the strait had reported a fire after an unknown projectile hit an engine room on Monday.<\/p>\n
In two separate incidents on Tuesday, a tanker reported being hit as it exited the strait but was able to proceed to its next port of call, while another tanker reported sustaining minor structural damage after being struck, the organisation said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the condition of anonymity before Centcom\u2019s announcement of fresh strikes, the US official insisted that US negotiators would continue to work in \u201cgood faith\u201d towards a final deal with Iran.<\/p>\n
Progress towards that came last month when the US and Iran agreed a 14-point\u00a0memorandum of understanding, which was aimed at extending a ceasefire and ending conflict \u201con all fronts\u201d.<\/p>\n
As part of the agreement Iran and Oman, which both border Hormuz, must hold talks \u201cto define the future administration and maritime services\u201d in the waterway with other Gulf states.<\/p>\n
During the conflict Iran sought to assert its sovereignty over the strait, including by establishing the \u201cPersian Gulf Strait Authority\u201d which it said would manage \u201csafe passage permits\u201d.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Fars news agency has reported that under the new deal with the US the strait would ultimately be managed by Iran in co-ordination with Oman, including possible \u201cservice fees\u201d for ships to transit the waterway.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US has launched \u201cpowerful\u201d strikes on Iran in response to attacks on three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday it had hit over 80 targets, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats in the strait. Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister called the US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}