…Reinstates Sanctions
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday said American forces have begun launching a series of “powerful strikes” against Iran in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships in an international waterway.
“U.S. Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” the command wrote on X. “The U.S. strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
CENTCOM added, “Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”
According to a U.S. official, the strikes against Iran are a “direct result” of what they described as “acts of international terrorism” against “innocent ships” transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“This response is a direct result of the acts of international terrorism that have been perpetrated by Iran on innocent ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the official said. “The Iranians know the consequences to their ridiculous actions, yet they still chose to carry out these attacks.”
The renewed U.S. strikes come as Iran is holding a week of funeral ceremonies for slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28 that started the war.
Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Qom on Tuesday as the caskets of Iran’s slain leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and family were brought to the seminary city.
Later on Tuesday Iranian state media reported an airplane carrying Khamenei’s coffin at the Shi’ite holy shrine city of Najaf in neighboring Iraq.
Khamenei was killed with his daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law on the war’s first day.
Mourners carried flags and banners comparing Khamenei to revered Shi’ite martyrs, with chants calling for vengeance. Some bore placards and banners reading “KILL TRUMP.”
US reinstates sanctions on Iranian oil sales
Meanwhile, the United States earlier on Tuesday re-imposed sanctions on Iranian oil, as a U.S. official warned that Iran’s attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz were “wholly unacceptable” and would be met with consequences.
Oil prices were up more than 5% following the announcement. The U.S. Treasury had authorized last month Iran oil sales until August 21 as part of the fragile agreement between Tehran and Washington. Tuesday’s revocation cuts that wind-down period to an end date of July 17.
The U.S. move came after three tankers reported being struck by unknown projectiles in and near the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, the British navy-affiliated agency UKMTO said in a report. There was no immediate comment from Tehran, or any claim of responsibility.
The U.S. official said negotiators continued to work in good faith toward a final agreement with Iran despite the latest escalation.
The attacks and the U.S. response threaten to put the diplomatic understanding between Washington and Tehran on shaky ground, raising the risk that further retaliation could derail negotiations over a broader agreement.
Another U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial indications were that Iran had fired at three commercial vessels.
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most important energy choke points. Roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the strait each day before the war.
With agency reports
