President Donald Trump declared that Iran’s defeat is imminent following a new series of US-led strikes against Iran. This marks a renewed conflict between the two adversaries.
The United States and Iran have re-engaged in hostilities, targeting various sites across the region. This resurgence in fighting comes less than a month after both nations signed a memorandum of understanding designed to cease the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced their targeting of the US Fifth Fleet stationed in Bahrain, asserting that these actions intercepted attacks on civilian locations.
Jordan, maintaining strong defense ties with the US, reported successfully intercepting and neutralizing three missiles launched by Iran.
In the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, several explosions were reported near the US consulate in Erbil late on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to widen strikes next week to include power plants and bridges into US targets, unless Iran returns to the negotiating table.
“They will be defeated soon,” Trump said.
He also claimed that Iran wanted to settle with the US, but the US would decide if they would want a settlement.
What’s happening with the Strait of Hormuz now?
Iran blockaded Hormuz after the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, using the waterway for leverage against its foes for months.
The strait was briefly reopened after the US-Iran deal last month, before Tehran vowed last week it would be closed again “until the US ends its aggression”.
Traffic through the waterway remained low, with maritime tracker Kpler reporting only 21 transits on Tuesday.
The US has reimposed its own blockade of Iran’s ports. On Thursday, the US Central Command said its military disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward an Iranian port.
“The commercial vessel ignored multiple warnings as it attempted to violate the US blockade. A US aircraft disabled the vessel after firing hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack,” it said.
The ship is no longer transiting to Iran.”
Negotiations still continue
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade “has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum”, referring to the interim deal reached last month.
Despite renewed hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.
But Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told state television on Wednesday that “a memorandum of understanding only has meaning when its clauses are valid and being implemented. If Iran is not to derive any benefit from the memorandum of understanding, we have no reason to adhere”.
Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.
Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday’s strikes on the southeast.