The United States has dramatically escalated its military campaign against Iran, striking around 140 targets across the country early Sunday after an Iranian attack set a Cyprus-flagged container ship ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz. The scale of the assault has sparked fears that the already-buckling ceasefire is about to collapse into full-scale war.
US Central Command said its forces struck air-defense systems, coastal radar and surveillance assets, missile and drone storage facilities, naval capabilities and military logistics along the Iranian coast. Explosions were reported in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Qeshm Island, Konarak, and Chabahar. Iran’s state media also reported blasts at Kharg Island, the country’s main crude export terminal that handles 90% of oil shipments, though CENTCOM did not confirm strikes there.
The strikes came after Iran attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. One attack set a Cyprus-flagged container ship ablaze, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel. Iran said it considers the strait closed once again after a vessel using an “unauthorized route” was struck by a warning shot in the critical waterway.
Trump declared the three-week-old ceasefire “over” earlier this week, revoking the oil-sales waiver that had been the main incentive for Iran to abide by the June 14 memorandum of understanding. Under that deal, Iran had cautiously resumed oil exports, roughly a dozen LNG cargoes exited the strait between June 10 and July 6. But Iran also insisted that any commercial vessel using routes not coordinated with Tehran was fair game, keeping the IRGC as the de-facto gatekeeper of the waterway.
The humanitarian toll is mounting. Iranian state TV reported no civilian deaths but said several people were injured by shrapnel from a projectile that hit a commercial pier in Sirik. Fishing piers in Sirik and Bandar Abbas were also damaged. The US has not released its own casualty figures.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis has global implications. Roughly one-fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway before the war. Global oil prices, which peaked at $120 a barrel during the initial conflict, have dropped but remain volatile. The United Nations and several Gulf states have called for restraint, but neither Washington nor Tehran appears willing to back down.
Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not publicly commented on the latest strikes. But Iran’s UN envoy stated this week that “any activity in the Strait of Hormuz, including its opening or demining operations, rests exclusively with Iran”, a position that directly contradicts the US demand that the strait be treated as an international waterway.
Diplomatic channels remain open but strained. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was scheduled to discuss the strait with his Omani counterpart. Turkey’s Foreign Minister said he believes “a solution can be reached” this weekend. But with the US striking 140 targets in a single day and Iran refusing to concede control of the strait, those diplomatic efforts look increasingly like a sideshow.