The US military launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iranian targets early Wednesday, hours after three merchant ships came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz, dealing a serious blow to a month-old ceasefire arrangement and casting new doubt over the prospects of a lasting peace between Washington and Tehran.
US Central Command said in a statement posted to social media that American forces struck Iranian targets “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” The command characterised Iran’s conduct in blunt terms, saying its “demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”
The retaliation followed a chaotic day in the strait, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.
According to the United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations centre, one tanker was struck by a projectile and caught fire while travelling off the coast of Oman; a second sustained damage after being hit near the Omani-Emirati border; and a third was struck by a drone. All three ships were reportedly using a route near Oman that runs alongside, but separate from, the corridor Tehran has designated as its own approved passage.
A Ceasefire Already Under Strain
Wednesday’s exchange marks the most serious test yet of the memorandum of understanding that Washington and Tehran signed last month to formally end the war that began February 28, an agreement meant to pave the way toward reopening the strait and negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program. According to reports, the new assaults represented the heaviest single day of attacks on Hormuz shipping since late April, undercutting hopes that normal maritime traffic could soon resume in the waterway.
The renewed hostilities came just hours after the US Treasury Department revoked a license that had authorised Iran to sell its oil, a concession that had been built into the original ceasefire terms. A US official, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the license was pulled because Iran’s actions in the strait were unacceptable and required a response. Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the revocation in turn, though it stopped short of directly claiming responsibility for the tanker attacks themselves.
Iran Defends Its Control Over the Strait
Iranian officials have consistently maintained that Tehran bears responsibility for overseeing navigation through the strait under the terms of the memorandum, and that ships bypassing its approved corridor do so at their own risk. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier in the week that Iran was fulfilling its obligations under the agreement, while warning that commercial vessels moving through the strait without coordinating with Iranian authorities faced serious danger.
Iranian state television suggested, through unnamed sources, that Tehran had targeted a tanker it believed was carrying Qatari natural gas after the vessel ignored warnings, though Iran issued no formal claim of responsibility for any of the three strikes. The Joint Maritime Information Centre, a multinational body overseen by the U.S. Navy, had told shippers just a day earlier that the alternate route near Oman “has been expanded and remains available for all traffic,” underscoring the competing claims over which corridor ships are obligated to use.
Gulf Allies Condemn the Attacks
Qatar’s government was quick to blame Iran for the strike on its flagged vessel, the Al Rekayyat, which was reportedly transporting liquefied natural gas when it was hit. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari wrote on social media that the attack constituted a “grave and explicit violation” of international law governing freedom of navigation, and said Doha held Tehran “fully legally responsible” for the incident and its consequences.
The Al Rekayyat was one of two vessels also condemned by Saudi Arabia, whose foreign ministry separately denounced a strike on a Saudi-linked tanker, the Wedyan, calling the assault a threat to global energy security and the safety of international shipping.
Oil Markets React as Diplomatic Path Narrows
The escalation rattled energy markets, with oil futures rising sharply on fears that the strait, closed for months earlier in the conflict, could again see disrupted traffic. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed roughly 2.5 per cent to trade near $73.83 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude posted a similar gain.
The clash marks the second major flare-up between the US and Iran since the ceasefire took hold, following a similar exchange of strikes late last month that was likewise triggered by attacks on commercial shipping. The two countries remain in the midst of a 60-day negotiating window outlined in their memorandum, intended to produce a comprehensive resolution addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the lifting of sanctions, a process that officials on both sides now acknowledge has been repeatedly undermined by disputes over the pact’s implementation and recurring military exchanges in the strait.
