The United States attacked Iran early Sunday over an Iranian strike on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left one crew member missing.
Iran responded with attacks on countries in the Middle East including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Oman — the nation on the other side of the strait that Tehran has pressed to join in managing traffic there.
The fighting raised new questions as Iran and the US are nearly at the midway point of the 60-day period of their interim deal aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war.
The strait, a key route for the global supply of oil and natural gas and long considered an international waterway, has become the key sticking point in negotiations that seem in danger of collapse.
Iran says the strait is closed and the US disagrees
The US military’s Central Command said it hit some 140 targets, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other sites.
It said the attacks, heavier than in recent days, would weaken Iran’s ability to threaten shipping.
“We bombed the hell out of them last night,” President Donald Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported that a navy officer was killed. Iran retaliated by attacking nations in the region hosting US military forces, while insisting it alone must control the strait and potentially charge vessels for traveling through it.
“The era of one-sided deals is OVER,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a main negotiator, wrote. “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
The US has launched three rounds of airstrikes targeting Iran in the last week over Iranian attacks on ships heading through the strait using a route off Oman, seeking to avoid the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.
The US military and Trump asserted that the strait remained open Sunday. Iran said it was closed until calm is restored, and Tehran would consider targeting “additional enemy bases in the region” if it faced more attacks.
The US military said over 140 ships had transited the strait over the past week.
A multinational body overseen by the US Navy said traffic continued “at reduced levels” off both Oman and Iran. It said nearly 140 vessels transited daily before the war.
About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on it led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
