Washington: The United States launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran after Iranian forces fired at commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, further straining a fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
“At 5 p.m. ET today, US Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.
“The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable,” it added.
The strikes were the third American wave against Iranian targets in 24 hours, The Wall Street Journal reported. The latest attacks focused on areas near the strait and along Iran’s coast, it said, citing a senior US official.
Around the same time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired at civilian ships moving through the waterway, according to CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins.
US aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone, Hawkins said, according to CNN and The New York Times.
“We’re holding Iran accountable,” Hawkins told The New York Times.
Iranian official media reported explosions in Jask, Qeshm, Bandar Abbas and Sirik in southern Iran’s Hormozgan province. No civilian casualties or damage to residential or commercial infrastructure were initially reported, CNN said.
The latest US operation followed strikes earlier Sunday against Iranian missile and air-defence systems and small IRGC boats around the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported. US forces had struck about 140 Iranian military targets overnight, taking the total number hit over three nights to more than 300, according to Fox News.
Iran responded over the weekend with attacks directed at US-linked sites and regional countries. Kuwait said three northern border posts suffered material damage. A drone also struck an offshore drilling platform belonging to the Kuwait Oil Company, injuring one worker.
Iran claimed it had targeted US High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers in Kuwait. CENTCOM rejected Iranian reports that American troops had been killed.
“There are zero reports of US service member deaths or injuries in the region,” it said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed deep concern over the renewed fighting, including Iranian attacks on ships, US strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks against neighbouring countries.
“These attacks must all stop,” Guterres said. He warned that renewed full-scale hostilities would have “catastrophic consequences” for the region, international security and the global economy. He urged Washington and Tehran to “urgently resume negotiations”.
(IANS)
