US Strikes Iran Again As Tehran Warns Of ‘Existential War’ And Threatens Other Shipping Routes
The U.S. struck Iran’s coastal defenses and missile sites on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while Iran threatened to shut off more regional energy exports, saying it was engaged in an “existential war” with America.
The latest escalation comes days after a fragile truce collapsed, raising the specter of a return to full-scale war, though analysts generally see that as less likely.
Hostilities have intensified since Iran said late on Saturday it had closed the Strait of Hormuz. Military operations are also keeping ships from transiting the vital artery, which carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, closed at a one-month high at $84.95 a barrel on Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command said the military had attacked coastal defense systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Iran’s Greater Tunb Island starting around 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT), and had completed the wave of strikes within around 90 minutes.
Nine hours later, Central Command reported a second wave of strikes.
“The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce. The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” Central Command said on X.
Three U.S. officials told Reuters that U.S. strikes aimed at forcing open the strait are also targeting Iranian military capabilities the U.S. would want to destroy before executing more complex operations.
The U.S. military also said it disabled an unladen oil tanker attempting to sail toward Iran’s Kharg Island after it ignored multiple warnings, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack.
Since resuming a naval blockade against Iran on Tuesday, the U.S. has redirected two ships and disabled another, the military said.
After the first wave, which Iran said hit a location on its Hengam Island in the strait, Tehran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a statement declaring that Iranian security depended on maintaining what he called “Iranian arrangements” in the strait.
“We are in an essential and existential war with America,” Qalibaf said.
The war has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where conflict restarted between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
In July alone, U.S. attacks have killed 35 people, Tasnim reported, citing a health ministry official.
Iran has been trying to assert permanent control over shipping in the strait and to impose fees on vessels passing through it, in what would be a major shift in the balance of power in a region where the U.S. has long acted as guarantor of security.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday it had struck U.S. military targets in the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
Kuwait said its armed forces intercepted four missiles and 21 drones from Iran on Wednesday, but that no injuries or material damage were reported.
The interim deal signed last month was meant to lead to further negotiations including on Iran’s nuclear program, and to a permanent truce, but a return to talks has faltered.
“We have no plans for negotiations at the moment and are focused on defense,” Tasnim news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
REUTERS
