The US early today launched intense strikes against Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, US Central Command said in a statement.
Trump previewed the attacks in a radio interview. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow,” he said.
He later said the US was attacking Iran’s capabilities related to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s media reported loud explosions on Kish, Abu Musa and Qeshm islands as well as Bushehr.
Trump earlier said the United States was reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf and would ensure the Strait of Hormuz stays open – for a fee – after the two sides exchanged more missile and drone attacks.
The latest hostilities followed Iran’s announcement at the weekend that it was closing the vital waterway, casting further doubt on an interim deal to halt the war and driving oil prices higher.
“The Hormuz Strait is open, and will remain open, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the Iranian blockade,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“The US will be, from this point forward, known as ‘the guardian of the Hormuz Strait’, but as such, and as a matter of fairness, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20 per cent on all cargo shipped.”
Iran’s top joint military command said the US had no role in determining the future of Hormuz and would not be allowed to intervene.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that Tehran was the guardian of the strait and would remain so ‘forever’, adding in response to Trump’s comments that: ‘20pc is of course too much. We will be fair’.
The UN’s shipping agency pushed back against Trump’s proposal, saying it opposes any fees for straits used in international navigation and stressing that there is no legal basis for introducing mandatory tolls on strait transits.
Trump has previously suggested the US could charge tolls on shipping through the strait, but it has so far not done so and it was unclear if it would follow through on Trump’s declaration this time.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Centre said the blockade would take effect at 2000 GMT today and apply to all vessel traffic regardless of flag, covering the entire Iranian coastline including ports and oil terminals.
It said the measure would not impede neutral transit passage through the strait to or from non-Iranian destinations, and that humanitarian shipments would be permitted subject to inspection.
Before the conflict began in February, around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas traffic passed through Hormuz daily, delivering more than 15 million barrels of fuel to global markets worth at least $1.2 billion.
If the US were to impose a 20pc fee, it could generate around $250 million a day.
Iran has sought to establish a permanent fee and permit system of its own for vessels using the waterway.
Thousands of people have been killed in the war, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
The US Central Command said its forces struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran on Sunday using one-way attack drones.
Iran’s official news agency Irna cited a local official yesterday as saying the US had attacked military sites in Qeshm, Bandar Abbas and Abadan in southern and southwestern Iran.
It confirmed the deaths of two people in the Abadan attack.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan in response to US strikes.
Bahrain said its air defence systems had intercepted several Iranian missile and drone attacks early yesterday.
The latest exchanges mark an escalation over the past week, throwing into question the interim US-Iranian agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and halt hostilities.
Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to further talks.
“We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it,” he said in a phone interview with Fox News. “And so we’re just going to hit them very hard.”
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28 has destabilised the Gulf and spread across the region.
Driven by fears of further disruption in the strait, oil prices jumped more than 9pc, with Brent futures posting their biggest single-day dollar gain since April 2, and highest settlement since June 12.
US crude futures made their largest daily gain since April 29 to settle at their highest since June 15.
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