In a dramatic turn of events on Sunday, Iran declared the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz and launched missiles and drones targeting its Gulf neighbors. This aggressive move was a direct response to U.S. military actions following an Iranian assault on a merchant ship, which had left the vessel engulfed in flames and hastily abandoned by its crew.
Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain were rocked by the sounds of sirens and explosions, as noted by AFP journalists and local officials. This latest surge in violence threatens to unravel a fragile interim accord between Washington and Tehran, initially designed to bring an end to the ongoing hostilities.
According to the Pentagon, U.S. forces launched a preemptive strike against Iran early Sunday. This action was in response to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) opening fire on a container ship registered in Cyprus, which they claimed was navigating an “unauthorized route” through the Strait.
Reports from Iranian media outlets highlighted explosions in several locations including Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask, and Qeshm Island, as well as in the Khuzestan province adjacent to Iraq. As of yet, there have been no reports of casualties from these incidents.
A few hours on, the sound of air raid sirens pierced the air over Bahrain, while both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar confirmed that they had successfully thwarted incoming missile strikes.
The IRGC said they struck and stopped a vessel ignoring repeated instructions to use an approved shipping corridor, according to a statement carried by Iranian news agency IRNA.
“Following this incident… the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region,” the IRGC said.
The closure of the strategic waterway marks the latest escalation in a dispute that has become one of the main roadblocks to a final US-Iran agreement.
Tehran insists it will regulate shipping through Hormuz, while Washington demands unrestricted navigation through a route that carries roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade.
Announcement of second ship attacked
Although Iran called the strike on the ship “warning shots”, the US military said Tehran “blatantly attacked” a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
A crew member was missing and the vessel had been disabled by fire and damage to its engine room, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The crew abandoned the vessel and were on a lifeboat, British maritime agency UKMTO reported, adding the incident occurred around 17 kilometres (10 miles) east of Oman.
The IRGC also announced they had hit a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, state media reported.
“A second vessel accused of violating regulations in the Strait of Hormuz has been struck,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state television IRIB, adding they had also attacked a US base in Qatar.
The US strikes, which began at 9:15am AEST, were the third round carried out this week and were taking place at the direction of US President Donald Trump, CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM later said US forces had hit 140 Iranian military targets out of more than 300 during three nights of strikes “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait”.
Earlier strikes by Tehran on vessels in the strait had triggered exchanges of fire between Iran and the United States, sparking heated rhetoric between the adversaries.
The tensions threatened an interim agreement aimed at ending the Middle East war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
A key roadblock to a final agreement is the future of the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the US started the war and was then closed by Iran to commercial shipping during the war.
The waterway is a key conduit for oil and gas exports out of the energy-rich Gulf, and its closure has heavily impacted the world economy.
Iran’s supreme leader pledges revenge for slain father
The latest strikes came as Iran’s supreme leader vowed revenge for the US-Israeli killing of his father and predecessor, hours after Trump threatened severe reprisals in the event of any attempt on his life.
Trump has declared their ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution, with Iranian media reporting that a delegation from Qatar travelled to Iran on Friday.
“Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out,” new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message.
“This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass,” he wrote in his first message since his father’s funeral this week.
He said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since before the war, and was reportedly wounded in the strikes that killed his father.
Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to “completely decimate” Iran.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he wrote.
With threats flying, mediators have been working to bring diplomacy back on track. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported Friday that a Qatari delegation was visiting Iran to “try to reinforce Qatar’s role as a mediator”.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Tehran had stuck to its end of the bargain under the memorandum of understanding struck between the warring parties last month, but added: “There can only be mutual compliance.”
On Sunday, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”