On Monday, tensions escalated between the United States and Iran as both countries asserted their claims over the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz. This conflict intensified over the weekend with a series of military strikes rippling across the Middle East.
Hostilities flared when a container ship in the strait, positioned off Oman’s coast, was targeted by Iran. This attack has heightened concerns over the dwindling prospects of diplomatic resolution.
In retaliation, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) unleashed a fresh barrage of assaults aimed at multiple Iranian military sites. The targets included air defense systems, radar facilities, missile, and drone units, as well as small naval vessels.
Officials from the United States disclosed that these strikes followed an even more extensive operation conducted on Sunday, impacting approximately 140 objectives.
In a counter-move, Iran launched its attacks against nations hosting US military forces, striking locations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman. Tehran remains steadfast in its claim over the control of shipping routes through the strait.
As violence intensifies, international mediators are pressing for renewed negotiations, with United Nations secretary-general António Guterres warning that a return to full-scale hostilities would have “catastrophic consequences”.
Attacks threaten trade and diplomacy
Control of the strategic waterway has become key leverage for Iran, with an adviser to the country’s supreme leader on Sunday saying it was more important than “dozens of atomic bombs”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said “the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region”, according to state news agency IRNA.
US CENTCOM countered on X that the strait was “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit”.
Only six vessels transited the strait on Sunday, ship-tracking data from Kpler showed, the lowest number in five weeks.
On Sunday evening, Iranian state media reported at least 10 “enemy projectiles” hitting Qeshm Island, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz.
It reported further strikes on the island of Farur, to the east of Qeshm in the Gulf, that it said killed a telecommunications worker and wounded two others.
IRNA also reported early on Monday morning that US strikes had killed one person and wounded four at a water pumping station in the southwest city of Mahshahr.
Iran’s Guards said they also hit Oman, which has rarely been targeted.
Oman’s government summoned the Iranian ambassador and handed him a formal protest — a rare move for the sultanate, which has been seeking to balance competing demands from the US and Iran.
The attack came just hours after the country hosted Iran’s foreign minister to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite continuing mediation efforts by Oman and Qatar, neither Iran nor the US appear willing to back down.
And with each side accusing the other of violating last month’s agreement, the prospects for restoring both the ceasefire framework and meaningful negotiations appear increasingly uncertain.