U.S. and Iran Trade Fresh Strikes as Hormuz Standoff Escalates

American forces hit dozens of Iranian targets; Tehran retaliates against Gulf bases as oil prices surge.

The United States and Iran exchanged waves of strikes over the weekend, dramatically escalating a standoff over control of the Strait of Hormuz and sending oil prices sharply higher, according to U.S. Central Command and multiple news outlets.

U.S. Central Command said its forces began launching a new round of strikes against Iran at 9 p.m. GMT Sunday "to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the Guardian reported. The Hill reported that Centcom said the strikes hit "dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions" in order to "degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international shipping."

Iran responded within hours, striking U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, Al Jazeera reported. Iranian state media said the fresh U.S. strikes had killed one person, according to the BBC.

Tehran said the latest exchange had "rendered futile" months of diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis, the Guardian reported. The Washington Examiner reported that Centcom described Sunday's American strikes as retaliation after Iran attacked multiple Gulf states and fired on vessels transiting the strait.

The escalation rattled energy markets. Brent crude climbed more than 4% as Washington and Tehran clashed over the critical waterway, Al Jazeera reported, underscoring the risk the conflict poses to global oil supplies moving through one of the world's busiest shipping corridors.

— Compiled from reporting by CNBC, Al Jazeera, the BBC, the Guardian, The Hill and the Washington Examiner.