US launches more strikes against Iran as conflict over Hormuz escalates
The flare-up is the latest to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending their war
The United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran on Sunday over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing earlier in the weekend.
Iran responded with attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman – the nation on the other side of the strait that Tehran has pressed to collaborate in managing shipping traffic.
The US military said it was seeking “to degrade” Iran’s “ability to attack commercial ships freely transiting” the strait. The statement came after a third round of strikes late Sunday night and into Monday in Iran.
Iranian state media acknowledged the latest attacks early Monday, describing explosions in several locations.
The first wave of strikes, on Sunday morning, was in response to an Iranian strike on a container ship in the critical waterway the day before. In response, Iran hit Gulf Arab states in an escalating cycle of violence that left the negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the war at the edge of collapse.
The US struck again later Sunday. The governor of Qeshm Island near the strait told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency that projectiles were fired at military targets, with no casualties. Explosions were also heard in the coastal city of Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad city to the north.