A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet patrols the skies over the Middle East. Photo: CentcomInfoIran says it closed the Strait of Hormuz after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route The US military’s Central Command has launched another round of ⁠strikes on Iran after Tehran declared it had closed the Strait of Hormuz “until further notice.”Centcom said late on Saturday that President Donald Trump ordered the latest strikes, which targeted Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels, after Iranian forces attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship.Iran’s state-run media reported explosions at multiple areas along the country’s southern coasts, including the energy and petrochemical hubs of Bushehr and Asalouyeh.Iran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unapproved route. It warned that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a “severe response.”“Iran made a poor choice,” US Defence Secretary chief Pete Hegseth said on X. “Now they pay.”Centcom said the vessel was the M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ⁠ship, and said it had suffered significant engine-room damage and that a civilian crew member was missing.Iran said several ships tried to transit the Strait of Hormuz on an "unauthorised route" ​and disregarded warnings to correct their course. The strait — which was a conduit before the war for one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG supplies — will remain closed until "the end of US interference in this region," Iran's Revolutionary Guards said.Centcom said it started its strikes at 7.15pm ET on Saturday, roughly an hour after the Iranians released their statement, which included a warning that "new enemy bases" in the Middle East would be targeted if the US retaliated for the container ship incident.Earlier on Saturday, Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei pledged to avenge the killing of his father and predecessor in his first message since Ali Khamenei's one-week funeral."We pledge to avenge ​the blood ​of ⁠the martyred leader and all the ​martyrs of these ​two ⁠wars from the criminal and disgraced killers," Mr Khamenei said in a written statement. He said revenge was "the demand of ​the nation" and "must ​certainly" take place.Mr Khamenei was seriously injured in the opening salvos of the war with Iran, which started on February 28 when the US and Israel launched an assault against Tehran, including an attack that killed Ali Khamenei. Mr Trump this week declared the end of a ceasefire that had been in place since April 8.Despite some hints of continuing diplomatic efforts, the current trajectory appears to be a return to conflict as both the US and Iran remain far apart on negotiating positions and red lines. Updated: July 12, 2026, 2:04 AM