For the third time this week, the United States struck Iran, prompting retaliatory attacks on at least five Arab nations as Washington and Tehran issued conflicting declarations over whether the Strait of Hormuz remains open to shipping.
Iran responded in the early hours of Sunday with drone and missile assaults on American allies across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. So far, only minor damage was reported and no casualties.
Going further, the Islamic Republic issued a warning that the embattled strait would be closed till further notice. US Central Command denied that, saying that the waterway was still open to all vessels and the US military was prepared to ensure freedom of navigation. The Joint Maritime Information Centre, a global monitoring body, reported Sunday it was still possible to transit the strait’s southern route.
Trump equally insisted that the strait remained open, as reported by Bloomberg. “We bombed the hell out of them last night,” he said. “They’re very, very evil and sick people.”
Nonetheless, the United States president has ordered fresh strikes, targeting Tehran’s ability to attack commercial vessels after Iranian forces hit a Cyprus-flagged container ship. Huge blasts were heard south of the country’s coast impacting petrochemical hubs of Bushehr and Asalouyeh, the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Bandar-e Dayyer, and the Sirik area near the Hormuz Strait, a global energy chokepoint. A communication tower was part of the casualties, injuring two people along with it.
