The U.S. military launched more strikes against Iran on Tuesday, just before reinstating its naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.U.S. Central Command said the new round of airstrikes began at 3 p.m. Eastern ahead of the blockade, which took effect an hour later. CENTCOM said the strikes were meant to “continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”Iranian forces have been attacking commercial ships for the past few weeks, prompting President Donald Trump to call off the ceasefire and resume hostilities. The U.S. military has responded with multiple rounds of airstrikes.
The latest CENTCOM announcement about airstrikes came hours after Trump dropped his plan to charge 20% tolls on cargo going through the Strait of Hormuz. He said he made the decision to make room for new trade and investment deals with Gulf states.“Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday morning. “The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION.“We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo. Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” he continued. “Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future. As everyone is aware, we have the largest Dollar Investment into the United States, of any Country in History, but these new Investments will make that Number even larger, and we will see Factories, Plants, and Equipment pour into the United States at Historic levels, which will create additional millions of High Paying AMERICAN Jobs!TRUMP DROPS STRAIT OF HORMUZ TOLLS FOR GULF TRADE DEALS“America is WINNING again, winning like never before,” Trump concluded. “The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protestors, are OVER and, most importantly, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”The U.S. and Iran both accused the other of violating the memorandum of understanding, which effectively remains on hold until further notice.
