US airstrikes hit Iran after tankers attacked in Hormuz
This was the third time the US had carried out strikes since the April ceasefire.
WASHINGTON — US military aircraft overnight on Tuesday bombed sites in Iran for the third time since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire in April, the Pentagon’s Middle East headquarters announced.
The unspecified strikes came after three commercial tankers reported having been hit by projectiles while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz over several hours on Tuesday.
“US Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway,” US CENTCOM said Tuesday evening.
“The US strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said, calling the Iranian attacks “unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”
Qatar's government on Tuesday accused Iran of targeting an LNG tanker, Al Rekayyat, which earlier reported it had been hit by a drone.
The strikes on the tankers drew condemnation from US officials. In a briefing with reporters, one US official warned that Iran's attacks "will be met with consequences." The official noted that US negotiators would continue to engage in dialogue with the Iranian side over ending the war.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it had revoked its oil sanctions waiver that it had previously issued as part of a mutual 60-day detente over the strait aimed at allowing negotiators to reach an end to the war.
Whether the US Navy would resume its blockade and interception of seaborne Iranian oil exports in conjunction with the waiver's revocation was not immediately clear.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
