UpdateUS and Iran exchange more strikes, Tehran tightens hold on Hormuz

The United States ramped up pressure on Iran on Wednesday by carrying out strikes for a second straight day and the Treasury Department slapped fresh sanctions on entities that it says “have supported weapons procurement” on behalf of Tehran, including some in mainland China and Hong Kong. “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them again hard today,” US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’ll see what happens with the deal. We’re really close to a deal but they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers.” Trump’s warning preceded an announcement by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) that it launched strikes at 5.15pm Eastern Time against “multiple targets” in Iran, further testing a two-month ceasefire. Earlier in the day, its forces fired at an oil tanker attempting to transport oil from Iran that violated its blockade on Iranian ports. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” CENTCOM said on X. Iranian media reported explosions in several cities, including Sirik, Kargan, Bandar Abbas, Minab, Varamin and Karaj. In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched counter-attacks on 18 US military targets at airbases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran’s military command also declared it would target any maritime traffic attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, after Iranian forces fired upon two merchant vessels attempting to pass through the strategic chokepoint. The strait is now “completely closed” to all types of vessels, the command said, according to Tasnim news agency. Iran has maintained a tight stranglehold on the strait, forcing energy prices up globally, but has allowed some vessels to pass in recent weeks. The US, meanwhile, has enforced a sweeping blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments. Trump had claimed in a social media post on Wednesday that more than 100 million barrels of oil and 200 commercial ships have “safely travelled” to the Strait of Hormuz since he approved “a secret mission” to support tankers and commercial ships on their passage. The flare-up followed Tuesday’s US strikes against Iranian military targets near the strait, which CENTCOM said was an act of self-defence after a US military helicopter was downed. Iran retaliated by targeting US forces in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. The second day of renewed fire threatens the fragile ceasefire reached in April and casts fresh doubts on efforts to end conflict in the Middle East, which also involves US ally Israel and fighting in Lebanon. Referring to Iran, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Washington “will hit them hard on our terms on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have”. “If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs, and we’re very good at it,” he told reporters. Also on Wednesday, the Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions against individuals and entities, including nine based in mainland China and Hong Kong, for supporting weapons procurement by Iran’s IRGC and the Iranian military. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said these entities facilitated the procurement of weapons as well as a Hong Kong-based company “operating within Iran’s clandestine banking network that attempted weapons procurement-related transactions”. The Treasury is “prepared to take action against any foreign company or individual supporting illicit Iranian commerce”, the department said in a statement, adding that it may impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate activities for sanctioned Iran-linked actors. Earlier in the day, Trump took to social media to attack Iran’s military as a “complete and total mess”, warning that Tehran had “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price”. On Monday, he had expressed optimism, saying negotiations with Tehran were “going well”. “Look, I’ve been working with Iran for a number of months, and they should sign the deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “Iran very simply cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won’t, and they’ve agreed to that. All they have to do is they have to start signing a paper. It’s fully negotiated … but they’re tapping and tapping.” Iran has long denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon. Among its demands, Tehran has insisted the US unfreeze billions in frozen funds and pay war reparations. Iran’s United Nations ambassador said the US should refrain from threats if it wants a deal. “Iran has never negotiated under threats and pressure and will never submit to pressure or question,” ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the UN Security Council on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that fresh strikes risked a return to a “full war” in the Middle East, saying he was “horrified by the fact that we see escalation upon escalation”. “We should not minimise the risks of a lesser fire becoming full fire, or in another word – full war,” he said at the UN Security Council meeting. Additional reporting by Associated Press and Reuters

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Renewed fire and sanctions test fragile ceasefire as Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz ‘completely closed’

Renewed fire and sanctions test fragile ceasefire as Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz ‘completely closed’