American forces have begun what they describe as a series of powerful strikes against Iran, in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — as mourners in Tehran attend a state funeral for former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The United States has begun launching what it describes as “a series of powerful strikes” against Iran, US Central Command has announced, saying the action is intended to impose heavy costs on Tehran for targeting commercial shipping crewed by civilians in an international waterway.
The strikes follow a sharp escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran attacked three ships within 24 hours, according to US officials — with the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reporting that a tanker travelling near the Omani coast had been struck by an unknown projectile, causing a fire, while a US official said a second vessel had been hit by an Iranian missile. Both ships suffered significant damage but no casualties were reported. Saudi Arabia condemned an Iranian strike on one of its vessels, the Wedyan, calling it an assault on the safety of international navigation and the security of global energy supplies.
The military response has been accompanied by economic measures. The Trump administration is reimposing sanctions on Iranian oil sales in retaliation for the shipping attacks, removing one of the central concessions granted to Tehran in exchange for reopening the strait. The news pushed Brent crude up 3% to $76 a barrel, while US oil rose nearly 6%.
The confrontation threatens to unravel a fragile truce. A memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries stipulated that the Strait of Hormuz — through which some 20% of the world’s oil passed before the war — would reopen, with Iran agreeing to allow safe passage for commercial vessels without charge for 60 days. Both sides have since accused the other of violating the agreement, and Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels it claims breached transit rules it had set for the waterway — restrictions the United States says Iran has no right to impose on an international shipping lane. NBC News + 2
The strikes come as a state funeral procession makes its way through Tehran for former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the war. Iranian officials have described the strike that killed him as “an apparent war crime”, saying four members of his family, including two women and a young child, died alongside him.
A memorial has also been held in Iran to remember the children killed when a US missile strike hit a primary school on the first day of the war.
President Trump has raised the possibility of restarting the war in full, writing on Truth Social that there “may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable”, and warning that if that happened, “the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist”. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, meanwhile, said its navy had responded to earlier American strikes by hitting the positions of US forces in the region.
