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Iran said it considers the Strait of Hormuz closed once again after a vessel using an \u2018unauthorized route\u2019 was struck by a warning shot in the critical waterway, further jeopardizing the already tenuous ceasefire agreement with the United States.<\/p>\n
U.S. Central Command said a short time later that its forces began a third round of strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran\u2019s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,\u201d the military said.<\/p>\n
A Cyprus-flagged container ship struck by Iran suffered \u201csignificant engineroom damage\u201d and a civilian crew member is missing, U.S. Central Command said.<\/p>\n
Senior U.S. officials had previously said in Washington that negotiations to further cement last month\u2019s deal to end the war will be unable to progress without the strait being secure \u2014 and had even said they expected Iran to offer public statements to that effect.<\/p>\n
Instead, the Revolutionary Guards Corps stated in an online post on Saturday that Iran launched warning shots at a \u201cviolating ship.\u201d Iran further reported that the strait would now remain closed until further notice.<\/p>\n
Those announcements followed Iran and Oman\u2019s foreign ministers meeting on Saturday to discuss the strait that lies between them, after days of\u00a0Iranian attacks on ships\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. retaliation\u00a0that dealt a blow to the\u00a0interim deal\u00a0to end the war.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, also vowed in his first statement since the\u00a0funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khameneithat Iranians would avenge his killing in the war\u2019s opening strikes on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
Such revenge \u201cis the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out,\u201d\u00a0Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei\u00a0said in a statement carried on state television, hours after\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0threatened more missile attacks.<\/p>\n
Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the Strait of Hormuz \u201cat the technical and political levels,\u201d a day after the United States called on Iran to publicly say the crucial waterway is open and ships won\u2019t be attacked.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he met with his counterpart in Oman to discuss \u201cappropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world for decades has considered the strait an international waterway. Iran has insisted that the strait now remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, a stance it took after the war began. The U.S. urges mariners to transit on a southern route through Oman\u2019s territorial waters.<\/p>\n
About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran\u2019s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though\u00a0oil prices have sharply dropped\u00a0since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s top diplomat also accused the U.S. of violating the interim deal by ending waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S. dollars. Washington ended them in response to the attacks on ships in the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cReality check: There can only be mutual compliance,\u201d Araghchi wrote on X.<\/p>\n
A thousand \u201cmissiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat,\u201d Trump wrote on social media overnight<\/p>\n
He said he was responding to threats \u201cto\u00a0assassinate, or attempt to assassinate\u201d him. During Khamenei\u2019s funeral,\u00a0mourners held posters or banners\u00a0calling for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
Trump has declared the ceasefire over but said the U.S. would continue negotiations.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity about the\u00a0current situation with Iran, said the resumption of strikes in recent days came after what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners tried to sabotage the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Iran has insisted its theocracy is unified under the new supreme leader.<\/p>\n
After the U.S. wrapped up its latest strikes on Thursday, more attacks reportedly hit Iran, raising questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
Israel didn\u2019t claim them, meaning the Gulf Arab states may have launched them, likely as a means to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday retaliated for U.S. strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.<\/p>\n
The strikes in Iran over two days killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#U.S #military #strikes #Iran #response #attack #civilian #vessel #Strait #Hormuz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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