By Steve Holland, Parisa Hafezi, Phil Stewart and Yomna Ehab
WASHINGTON/DUBAI, July 12 (Reuters) – The U.S. military launched strikes on Iran after it struck a container ship on Sunday, while Tehran said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and some Gulf states came under attack.
A series of attacks between the U.S. and Iran over the past several days led President Donald Trump to declare the end of a ceasefire meant to halt the fighting that the U.S. and Israel began on February 28, though Trump has left the door open to continued negotiations.
Iran said it closed the strait after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel traveling on an unapproved route. It warned that any retaliation over the incident would be met with a “severe response.”
STRAIT OF HORMUZ AGAIN IN FOCUS, GULF STATES HIT
U.S. Central Command identified the vessel as the M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship, saying it suffered significant engine-room damage and that a civilian crew member was missing.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the crew of a container ship damaged east of Oman had abandoned the vessel and were in a lifeboat.
Iranian state media reported explosions in a number of port cities.
Soon after, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had destroyed a command and control centre and drone hangars at a base in U.S. ally Jordon. The United Arab Emirates said its air defence systems were engaging missiles and drones from Iran, Qatar said it had intercepted a missile attack while warning sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were heard in Doha.
The war has destabilized the Gulf, while Iran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has caused energy prices to surge, fuelling global inflation and raising fears of an economic slowdown.
Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
Iran said several ships attempted to move through the waterway on an “unauthorized route” and disregarded warnings to correct their course.
The strait — which was a conduit before the war for one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies — will remain closed until “the end of U.S. interference in this region,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
Central Command said it began its strikes at 7:15 p.m. ET (2315 GMT) on Saturday, roughly an hour after the Iranians released their statement, which included a warning that “new enemy bases” in the Middle East would be targeted if the United States retaliated for the container ship incident.
Trump ordered the strikes, Central Command said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington demands that Tehran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the strait, and that all lanes will be open without tolls, senior U.S. officials have said.
IRAN VOWS TO ‘AVENGE THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRED LEADER’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire agreement. “There can only be mutual compliance,” he wrote on X on Friday.
The U.S. revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude on Tuesday after three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire earlier in the week, prompting the U.S. to hit Iranian sites. Iran then struck U.S. military sites in Gulf states.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran, the U.S., Qatar and Pakistan had agreed to negotiate in a call that mediators were trying to arrange for Saturday while Araqchi was in Oman, a Gulf state trying to mediate an end to the war.
It was not immediately clear whether those efforts succeeded.
Araqchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met in Oman to exchange “views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” according to a statement from the Iranian foreign minister. Oman’s state news agency said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks “at the technical and political levels.”
CNN reported on Saturday that Oman made a draft proposal for the strait, including free navigation through its southern corridor in Omani territorial waters. The plan called for vessels transiting the northern corridor through Iranian territorial waters to obtain prior approval from Iran, although no tolls would be imposed, CNN said.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the CNN report.
A written statement from Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed in the war’s initial attacks. It said the vengeance would take place whatever happened to Iran.
“We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs,” the message said.
The statement was released to mark funeral ceremonies for the former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday. His son did not attend the ceremonies and has not been seen in public since the war began.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Phil Stewart in Washington, Parisa Hafezi in Dubai and Yomna Ehab in Cairo; Additional reporting by Enas Alashray, Ahmed Elimam, Eman Abouhassira and Andrew Mills; Writing by Alexandra Alper and Kim Coghill; Editing by Sergio Non, Cynthia Osterman and William Mallard)
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