*U.S. Military Says Strikes To Open Strait Of Hormuz
*Trump Says Strikes Are Retribution For Tuesday’s Ship Attacks
*Iran Threatens Further Retaliations
THE United States (US) military said on Wednesday, July 8, that it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain in the latest escalation to derail efforts to end the war.
The latest round of attacks, which the US said was carried out in response to Tuesday’s assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait, came hours after President Donald Trump said he believed an interim ceasefire with Iran to be “over.”
“U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,” CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s Middle East Command, wrote on X.
The latest US strikes rattled several cities along Iran’s southern coast and left some areas without power.
Iran responded with a second day of attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, both home to U.S. military bases.
Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar briefly issued an “elevated security threat” alert before later giving the all-clear.
The U.S. strikes against Iran on Wednesday were greater in number than the ones carried out on Tuesday, a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Control of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies passed before the war, has given Tehran immense leverage, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts said Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
“The U.S. has yet to learn that bullying and breaking its commitments no longer come without a cost. Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck back.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through U.S. threats,” Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, wrote on X.
The latest exchange of strikes appeared to dim hopes of turning a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on June 17 into a permanent deal to end the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
Asked before a NATO Summit in Turkey on Wednesday whether the MoU was over, Trump said: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them.
“If we make a deal with Iran, I’m not sure that will stick. I found them to be very dishonourable people,” Trump said.
But Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to escalate military action before backing off, said he did not expect a return to full-fledged war, and that it was not clear whether the negotiations on reaching a permanent deal would continue.
Also on Wednesday, the American leader said he did not think the war would restart: “Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly … and will only make it safer, including for oil.”
Wednesday’s attacks pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude futures rising about One per cent to $78.80 a barrel by 0054 GMT. Even so, prices remained well below the late-April peak of more than $120 a barrel.
Iranian media reported strikes primarily along Iran’s southern coast, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman.
Among the locations hit were Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port and key navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities on the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Konarak and Chabahar, neighbouring coastal cities near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
Electricity had been restored to most areas of Chabahar after strikes knocked out power for some in the city, Mehr news agency reported, citing the local utility.
Media also reported that a maritime traffic control tower in Chabahar was hit.
A firefighter was killed in a strike on the airport in the southeastern city of Iranshahr, state media reported.
In northern Iran, a U.S. attack hit a railway bridge near the town of Aqqala, according to Press TV.
Prior to the fresh U.S. attacks on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, had said U.S. strikes had violated the memorandum by challenging a clause that “emphasises the Islamic Republic of Iran’s responsibility in determining arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.”
A spokesperson for parliament’s National Security Commission had said options for retaliation included withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), changing Iran’s nuclear doctrine and closing the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea, another crucial global shipping route.
In a letter to the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Wednesday, Iran’s UN Mission accused the US of “blatant violation of the world body’s Charter ,and its international obligations” saying its attacks violated the MoU signed by the two countries.
The US said it over 90 targets in Wednesday’s strikes.
