U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed violence casts further doubt on the future of an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month that aimed to reopen the strait and end the war after a further 60 days of negotiations.
The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.
Iran’s strikes extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defenses had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.
The U.S. military began launching more strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Central Command said in a statement on the social media platform X, “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
U.S. Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins told CNN that U.S. aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone.
In a brief phone interview with Reuters on Sunday afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to the weekend’s strikes on Iran. “We’re beating them up,” he said.
Iranian media said on Sunday there had been missile attacks and explosions around the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, home to military facilities on the strait, and nearby Qeshm Island.
In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned “aggressive” U.S. attacks against Iran over the weekend. The ministry also said talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat — focused on arrangements for managing the strait and transit routes — were unable to reach a result because of “overt and covert” U.S. pressure on Oman.
In the past week, Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to more talks.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X on Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
The war that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 has destabilised the Gulf, where Iran has struck countries hosting U.S. bases. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has driven energy prices higher and fuelled global inflation.
Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.
FLURRY OF STRIKES
Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation.
It said late on Saturday it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route. On Sunday, it said it had disabled a second vessel.
India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar advised all vessels, including leisure boats, fishing boats and jet skis, to suspend activities.
Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to “recent illegal movements of the United States military forces in the region”. Permits would be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” it said.
The U.S., which revoked the licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday following earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it described as “aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations” from Iran.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” it said.
The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center reiterated guidance that, despite a severe security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic.
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces had hit 140 Iranian military targets, and that more than 300 had been struck over three nights this week “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in U.S. ally Jordan, targeted a U.S. radar site and later rocket launcher systems in Kuwait, attacked U.S. aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.
