US unleashes new ‘powerful strikes’ on Iran
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The latest US strikes on Iran have targeted Iranian air defence systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed the targets to Reuters on Tuesday after the US military announced it had unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran and revoked a licence allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz, putting pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.
After a day in which huge crowds mourned Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom, US Central Command announced on Tuesday it had begun a series of strikes intended to impose heavy costs.
“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said on X.
Iran’s media reported several explosions early on Wednesday in the southern port city of Sirik, Qeshm Island and Bandar Abbas, but provided no details on any casualties or damage.
The incidents were only the latest to threaten the ceasefire that the US and Iran struck last month, pausing the conflict that started in February with US and Israeli strikes across the Islamic Republic.
In a major blow to that agreement, Washington withdrew a key concession that had allowed Iran to sell oil on international markets.
Oil prices rose more than three per cent after the US said it was pulling the oil sales licence.
A US official said earlier negotiators continued to work in good faith toward a final agreement with Iran.
But control of the strait has given Tehran immense leverage, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military.
Analysts say Tehran uses attacks on ships to underscore that leverage as it negotiates a long-term peace deal with the US Under last month’s interim US-Iran agreement, the US Treasury issued a June 22 general licence to allow the sale of crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin through August 21.
The US has now given Iran until July 17 to wind down any transactions.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the decision. saying it breached the framework agreement to end the war.
Iran would take any measure it deemed necessary to safeguard its interests and national security, the ministry said.
Qatar blamed Iran for attacking the vessels, including the huge Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, the Al Rekayyat, which reported being struck overnight by a drone that caused a fire in its engine room. The crew were safe and being evacuated.
A Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was also damaged off Oman, maritime security sources said.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Qatar’s accusations were perplexing and that Tehran was diligently fulfilling its commitments but asserted that commercial vessels faced risks for using routes not co-ordinated with Iran.
A second US official said initial indications were that Iran had fired at three commercial vessels.
Iran’s clerical rulers aim to install a permanent system to collect fees in what would amount to a huge shift of the balance of power in a region.
Iran has used the mourning for late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to show its control.
The caskets of the slain leader and family were driven through the streets of the seminary city of Qom on Tuesday, where hundreds of thousands of people carried flags and banners comparing Khamenei to revered Shi’ite martyrs.
In chants they vowed to avenge Khamenei. Some bore placards and banners reading “KILL TRUMP”.
The war has been paused under the interim peace deal reached last month, intended to provide a 60-day period for negotiations on a permanent deal.
A round of indirect talks in Qatar ended last week with no sign of headway towards a lasting peace.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombing, most recently on Monday when he told reporters in the Oval Office: “We’re either going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job….. We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply”.
Reuters