(AFP) – Tehran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz Sunday and launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours, in retaliation for new US strikes following an attack by Iranian forces on a merchant vessel that was abandoned in flames by its crew. Sirens and explosions were heard in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, AFP journalists and local authorities reported, the latest escalation to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the Middle East war.
The Pentagon said it had struck Iran early Sunday after the Revolutionary Guards fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they said was sailing an “unauthorised route” through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask and on Qeshm Island as well as in Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq, with no immediate reports of casualties. Hours later, air raid sirens sounded over Bahrain, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar said they intercepted missile attacks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had earlier said they struck and stopped a vessel ignoring repeated instructions to use an approved shipping corridor, according to state news agency IRNA. “Following this incident… the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region,” the Guards said. Although Iran called the strike on the ship “warning shots”, the US military said Tehran “blatantly attacked” a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A crew member was missing and the vessel had been disabled by fire and damage to its engine room, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The crew abandoned the vessel and were on a lifeboat, British maritime agency UKMTO reported, adding the incident occurred around 17 kilometres (10 miles) east of Oman. “In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” it said on X. CENTCOM said later the military had hit approximately 140 Iranian military targets as it finished the third round of strikes this week, carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump. US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said simply: “Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.”
Iran’s Guards later announced through state media that they had retaliated by striking US bases and radar sites in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar with ballistic missiles and drones.
– Critical strait –
Earlier strikes by Tehran on vessels in the strait had also triggered exchanges of fire between Iran and the United States, sparking heated rhetoric between the adversaries. The tensions threatened an interim agreement aimed at ending the Middle East war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed former supreme leader Ali Khamenei. A key roadblock to a final agreement is the future of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran closed to commercial shipping during the war. The waterway is a key conduit for oil and gas exports from the Gulf, and its closure during the war has heavily impacted the world economy. Iran insists on controlling the passage of ships and plans to charge fees, a stance Washington has rejected. Under customary international law, states are not generally permitted to charge tolls on straits used for international navigation.
– ‘Vengeance’ –
The latest strikes came as Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge for the killing of his father and predecessor, hours after Trump threatened severe reprisals in the event of any attempt on his life. Trump has declared their ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution. “Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message. “This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote in his first message since his father’s funeral this week. He said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted. Khamenei has not been seen in public since before the war and was reportedly wounded in the strikes that killed his father.
Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran. With threats flying, mediators have been working to bring diplomacy back on track. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported Friday that a Qatari delegation was visiting Iran to “try to reinforce Qatar’s role as a mediator.”
burs-acb/abs/tc – AFP teams in Tehran, Washington and Dubai
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