DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) β The U.S. carried outΒ another round of strikesΒ against Iran on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships inΒ the Strait of HormuzΒ signaled the end ofΒ the fragile ceasefire.
The action raised fears that theΒ war in IranΒ could reignite, coming just a day after the U.S. military hit a variety of military sites and port facilities followingΒ Iranβs targeting of several merchant vesselsΒ off the coast of Oman.
Military officials said in a social media post Wednesday that the latest strikes were intended to βfurther degradeβ Iran’s ability βto threaten freedom of navigationβ in the strait, through which a fifth of the worldβs traded oil and natural gas passed beforeΒ the war beganΒ with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home toΒ Iranβs nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
Trump warns that βit will get much worseβ if attacks on shipping happen again
After leavingΒ a NATO summitΒ in Ankara, Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.
βThis is in retribution for yesterdayβs bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!β Trump wrote.
Trump had said earlier in the day that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in βlong-termβ military action.
βAnything that happens is going to happen very fast,β Trump said, though he also suggested the U.S. military might βjust finish the job.β
Trump also renewedΒ his past threatsΒ to hit Iranβs civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalinization plants, and to seize theΒ oil-production hub of Kharg Island.
After three tankers were hit Tuesday, the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Persian Gulf.
Iran has asserted that the interim ceasefire deal gives it the right to manage traffic through the strait.Β Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X: βThe era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We donβt fold.β
Strikes raise fears that war could resume
Trump fueled concerns that the war could restart by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was βover,β although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue.
Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump’s comments added new uncertainty, and oil pricesΒ shot upΒ after he spoke. A renewed conflict could engulf the wider Middle East and would likely again halt energy shipments through the strait.
βFor me, I think itβs over,β Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. He added that U.S. representatives can continue negotiations, but he cast doubt on the outcome. βThey can talk, but I think theyβre wasting their time,β he said.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, retorted on X that Trump’s remarks βare not a sign of power but an admission of the failureβ of U.S. policy toward Iran.
Trump has threatenedΒ to seize Kharg IslandΒ at previous points in the war,Β including last month, when he also questioned whether the U.S. βhas the stomach for it.β Some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass through the island.
The new attacks on ships in the strait, despite the negotiations, could reflect a divide among Iran’s leadership. Hard-liners seek lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West. Pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift international sanctions and provideΒ desperately neededΒ economic relief.
Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after the dayslong funeral for IranβsΒ Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in the warβs first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.
The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling backΒ Tehranβs disputed nuclear program.
US military says it hit air defenses and small boats
On Tuesday, the U.S. militaryβs Central Command said American forces hit Iranian targets including air-defense systems, radars and over 60 small boats used by Iranβs paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Those boats have been key to threatening ships in the strait. Iranβs ability to bring shipping in the waterway to a near halt during the war proved its greatest strategic advantage.
On Wednesday morning, both Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navyβs 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, home to U.S. Army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting U.S. military installations in both countries.
Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran. The Kuwaiti Electricity Ministry said a number of lines were out of service after shrapnel fell on them.
US revokes license allowing the sale of Iranian oil
After the Iranian strikes on shipping, the U.S. revoked a license that β for the first time in years β had allowed Iran to conduct oil sales openly in U.S. dollars, as part of the interim deal.
Iran and the United States agreedΒ as part of the interim dealΒ to allow ships to pass through the strait without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran has insisted it must control the vesselsβ routes and vowed to later charge fees for passage. That would upend decades of practice in the waterway. The ships attacked Tuesday all appeared to be using a route close to Omanβs shore, rather than one ordered by Tehran.
The U.S. and many Gulf Arab statesΒ say they will not agree to Iran charging for passage through the strait.
Elsewhere, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falah al-Zaidi and other Iranian and Iraqi officials attended funeral ceremonies for Khamenei on WednesdayΒ in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
Khameneiβs body will be returned to Iran to be buried Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.
