U.S. Strikes Iran for Third Straight Night as Trump Announces Hormuz Blockade
Tanker attack kills one, wounds eight as Gulf tensions spiral and oil prices jump
U.S. warplanes and warships struck Iranian targets for a third consecutive night early Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said, as President Donald Trump announced a renewed naval blockade of Iranian ports and a 20% fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The rapidly escalating conflict, coming roughly a month after Washington and Tehran had agreed to a peace deal, has driven oil prices to a one-month high and raised fears of a broader war that could disrupt one of the world's most important shipping corridors.
CENTCOM said the five-hour mission struck military targets across Iran, including Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas, "to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping," according to a statement posted on X. Trump had warned hours earlier that Iran would be hit "very hard."
Iran retaliated Monday by launching cruise missiles that struck two oil tankers, the Mombasa and the Al Bahiyah, in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member and wounding at least eight, the United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said. Both vessels caught fire before the blazes were extinguished.
Trump also threatened to strike what he called "Pickaxe Mountain," a heavily fortified underground nuclear facility in Iran, and accused The New York Times of wanting the United States to lose the war, Fox News reported.
The president told Congress that fighting between the two countries had resumed and said the U.S. would "take over" the Strait of Hormuz, imposing a shipping toll his own administration had previously denounced when Iran proposed a similar tax, according to PBS NewsHour.
Trump argued that wealthy Gulf nations should cover the cost of the U.S. military presence protecting the waterway. "I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world," he said, according to the Washington Examiner and the Hill.
Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper called the reinstated blockade "the right move," telling CNN it was warranted given the circumstances.
Brent crude neared $85 a barrel, its highest level in a month, as traders weighed the risk to Gulf oil flows, CNBC and Al Jazeera reported. In Australia, economists warned the turmoil could push oil above $100 a barrel and force a fourth interest rate rise this year if the conflict is not resolved within a week, the Guardian reported.
— Compiled from wire reports, including the Guardian, CNBC, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, the Washington Examiner, the Hill and Fox News.