The United States launched fresh strikes against Iran and revoked a temporary licence allowing Iranian oil sales on Tuesday, after three commercial vessels were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, in a sharp escalation that threatened to unravel last month’s fragile ceasefire.US Central Command said American forces had begun military operations against Iran in response to attacks on commercial shipping transiting one of the world’s most strategically important waterways.“US Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” US Central Command said in a statement.Within hours, it released another statement saying it completed the new round of strikes, hitting over 80 targets. “US forces struck Iranian defence systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait.”Iranian media reported explosions early Wednesday local time on Iran’s main oil hub of Kharg Island, on Qeshm Island and in the southern port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command said Iranian armed forces would deliver a “crushing response”, accusing the US of ‌a “blatant act of aggression”. It warned that Tehran would not allow US interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.