U.S. strikes Iran again after Trump’s earlier warning, as tensions escalate

The U.S. military on Wednesday said it was conducting additional strikes against Iran hours after President Donald Trump warned of such an action. Tensions between the two sides have seen their biggest escalation since the signing of an interim peace deal last month.

The U.S. military on Tuesday had hit over 80 targets in Iran in retaliation for attacks on three oil tankers in and around the critical Strait of Hormuz. Iran did not publicly claim the attacks, but responded swiftly to the U.S. strikes by hitting American military targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. Trump on Wednesday said a ceasefire between the two was now “over” and that he didn’t want to deal with Iran anymore.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters earlier at a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Türkiye, Trump said: “We’re going to hit [Iran] hard tonight.” He suggested that the U.S. could “knock out more boats,” claiming that 28 vessels were struck on Tuesday night.

Trump added that the U.S. may reinstate a blockade of Iranian ports, a move Washington had used after Iran had effectively closed tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM announced in June that all blockade enforcement had ended as part of a deal with Iran.
The president at the summit accused Tehran of double-dealing and cast doubt around the status of the interim peace agreement inked in mid-June. 

“We make a deal, and everyone’s agreed. No nuclear weapons. We make a deal. They go outside, talk to the press, they say we never even talked about it. There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” Trump said.

However, he did hint that he would be open to negotiations continuing should both parties be willing to engage with each other.

Trump did not repeat his announcement of the termination of the interim ceasefire deal during a closed NATO alliance leaders’ meeting, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The comments came after Iranian armed forces said on Wednesday they had attacked U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, in retaliation to American strikes on targets in Iran and Washington’s decision to revoke a sanctions waiver on Iranian oil.

In a statement cited by Iran’s state news agency, the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had struck 85 U.S. military sites and shot down an American MQ-9 drone.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which is a part of the Iranian military, also said that the U.S. strikes on locations in southern Iran were a “blatant act of aggression,” adding that “under no circumstances will we allow interference in the affairs or management of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Previously, the Pentagon said that its Tuesday strikes were a response to recent Iranian attacks on commercial vessels attempting to traverse the strait, a vital conduit for global oil shipping. The waterway partially straddles Iran’s southern coast. CENTCOM also claimed that it had struck more than 80 targets in Iran, as well as more than 60 IRGC small boats in and around the strait.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked the general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products of Iranian origin.

Tehran has not claimed responsibility for attacks on Tuesday on the ships off the coast of Oman, which included a Saudi oil tanker and a Qatari vessel laden with liquefied natural gas.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Parliament Speaker and top negotiator, accused Washington of violating a 14-point memorandum of understand signed by both sides in June. Writing on X, Ghalibaf said Washington’s actions were “violating Iranian adjustments” in the strait, which had been reopened under the terms of the preliminary deal.

The tit-for-tat strikes have threatened to derail talks over a permanent agreement to wind down hostilities, as well as a nascent rebound in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Discussions are now reportedly paused for funeral ceremonies honoring former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a barrage at the onset of a joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran in late February.
Against this backdrop, oil prices marched higher on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, briefly topping $80 a barrel for the first time since June 22.

(Anuron Mitra contributed reporting)