US and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the strait. However, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.
The strikes extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April, while the United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defenses had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.
Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation.
It said late on Saturday it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route. On Sunday, it said it had disabled a second vessel.
India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued..
Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to “recent illegal movements of the United States military forces in the region”. Permits would be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” it said.
US Central Command, however, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it described as “aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations” from Iran.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” it said.
US Central Command said US forces hit 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday and more than 300 over three nights of strikes this week “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”
Iranian state media reported explosions in several port cities and said an Iranian army officer had been killed in “US-Israeli” attacks on Iran.
In response, the Guards said they had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in US ally Jordan, targeted a US radar site in Kuwait, attacked US aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.
The latest round of hostilities came after talks in Oman on Saturday between Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi. Iran said the talks were aimed at coordinating arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz, and were set to continue with a Qatari presence.
Araqchi later discussed regional developments in a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, whose country has been a key mediator ?between the US and Iran, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.