The USA attacked Iran Early Sunday evening there was an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, which caused it to catch fire and leave one crew member missing. Iran responded with attacks on several Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman – the country across the strait that Tehran wants to help control traffic there.
The fighting raised new questions about the June 17 interim deal between Iran and the United States that began a 60-day period aimed at bringing a permanent end to the war. The middle of this period is within the week.
The strait, a key route for global supplies of oil and natural gas, has become a key sticking point in the negotiations, and last week’s fighting has left negotiations at risk of collapse.
The US military’s Central Command said it hit around 140 targets in Sunday’s attacks, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition depots, communications equipment and other sites. It said the attacks, more severe than in recent days, would weaken Iran’s ability to threaten shipping.
“We absolutely bombed them last night.” President Donald Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Semi-official Iranian news agencies reported that a naval officer was killed. Iran responded by attacking countries in the region where U.S. forces were stationed, while insisting that it alone must control the strait and potentially charge ships to transit the strait.
“The era of one-sided deals is OVER,” wrote Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament and chief negotiator. “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
The U.S. launched three rounds of airstrikes against Iran last week after Iran attacked ships passing through the strait via a route off Oman and seeking to avoid the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.
About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. However, Iran’s influence on the country led to a global energy crisis Oil prices have fallen sharply since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
The US military and Trump claimed the strait remained open on Sunday. Iran said the strait would be closed until calm was restored and it would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faces further attacks.
Oman summons Iranian envoy to protest attack
Missile warnings sounded in several Arab Gulf states early on Sunday.
The Qatari military said it intercepted Iranian fire and explosions were heard in the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Three people, including a child, were injured by shrapnel caused by intercepting Iranian attacks, Qatar’s Interior Ministry said, without giving further details on their condition.
Missile alarms sounded in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf where the US Navy’s 5th Fleet is based. The Kuwaiti military also said it would intercept incoming fire.
The Omani state news agency said drones had attacked sites in an area on the Strait of Hormuz and issued a warning for residents of the area. The attack came a day after Oman and Iran held talks over the strait.
Oman summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest the attacks, the first such move since the war began, and called Iran’s actions “irresponsible.”
Three Iranian missiles hit areas across Jordan, causing minor damage but no injuries, Jordan’s state news agency reported.
Sirens also sounded in the United Arab Emirates, but the government said no missiles had entered its territory.
Iranian attack on ship harms Indian crew
A Cyprus-flagged container ship was struck by Iran and suffered “significant engine room damage,” U.S. Central Command said.
The Omani maritime authority said it had rescued 23 crew members, but one was missing. India’s foreign ministry said the missing man was an Indian citizen and it was working with Oman to find him.
The U.K. Maritime Commercial Operations Center, overseen by the British military, said the ship was traveling along the coast of Oman.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said several ships “disregarded our warnings” and ignored instructions to follow what it called an approved route. One “was hit by a warning shot and brought to a stop.”
Iranian state media later reported U.S. strikes across the country, including in southern Iran in the province closest to the strait, as well as military sites in a province near Tehran.
Further diplomatic talks across the strait were followed by attacks
The strait lies within the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman, but has long been considered an international waterway.
Oman said this on Saturday and Iran agreed to continue talks on the strait “at a technical and political level.” Iran gave no comment on whether the strait would be open to all, which was sought by the Trump administration.
Trump suggested last week that the interim agreement was “over” in war. But mediators including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt did further efforts to reach an agreement. A regional official involved in the mediation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss those talks, said efforts to secure the ceasefire would continue on Sunday.
Iran’s new supreme leader, who has not been seen since the war began, promised on Saturday in his first statement since Funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khameneithat the Iranians would avenge his killing in the war’s opening attacks on February 28.
Such revenge “is the will of our nation and must be carried out without fail.” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement on state television.