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| The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Strikes on Iran |
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it launched the third round of strikes against Iran, following an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a ship as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
A statement from CENTCOM said the attack was in response to an Iranian attack on the Cypriot-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy, which resulted in the loss of one civilian crew member, caused significant damage to the engine room and a fire on board, and rendered the ship unable to continue its voyage.
The command stressed that Iran "was given another opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the memorandum of understanding" after being held accountable for previous attacks on commercial vessels, but it "failed once again."
The command explained that the airstrikes, which began at 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time, were carried out at the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and are intended to "continue to undermine Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the Strait."
A senior U.S. official told Axios that U.S. military forces are launching strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz region in response to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard firing on a commercial vessel.
Iran’s Press TV reported on Sunday that explosions had occurred in the southern Iranian cities of Bushehr and Asaluyeh, in a new development that adds to the escalation of violence in recent days.
Iranian media also reported hearing two explosions in the vicinity of Chabahar and five explosions in the Deyr region of Bushehr province, and on the coasts of Sirik, Minab and Bandar Abbas, in addition to four explosions in the city of Jask in Hormozgan province in southern Iran.
The attacks come after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced late Saturday-Sunday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz until further notice and until the end of US intervention in the region.
The statement added: "Hours ago, these warnings were ignored, and at the instigation of foreigners, several ships attempted to move outside the approved route, ignoring our warnings and alerts regarding course correction and movement within the approved route."
The Revolutionary Guard indicated that one of the ships had shut down its systems, thus endangering maritime security, and was subjected to warning shots and forced to stop.
The Revolutionary Guard Navy stressed that "if the enemy uses this incident as a pretext and commits any new violation against us, it will face a severe response and new enemy bases in the region will be targeted."
This escalation comes one day after US-Iranian talks in Oman, where the Iranians were supposed to outline their position on opening the Strait of Hormuz, and at a time when reports revealed a private Iranian admission of a "mistake" in targeting commercial ships, attributing the attacks to a "rogue" element within the regime. However, the new strike indicates that the negotiating track has not prevented mutual military escalation.
