US, Iran Trade Strikes Over Hormuz Tanker Attacks
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- US Central Command launched "powerful" strikes hitting more than 80 targets on Qeshm island, Bandar Abbas and Sirik in Iran, along with 60 small boats and Iranian missile launch sites, in response to attacks on three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz
- Iran's IRGC retaliated by targeting "85 key US military facilities" in Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones, including a US Navy headquarters and an air base in Kuwait
- NATO chief Mark Rutte, speaking at the alliance's Ankara summit, said the American strikes were "absolutely necessary" and accused Iran of "basically violating the ceasefire"
- The US Treasury revoked a waiver temporarily lifting oil sanctions on Iran — a key component of the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed last month — prompting Iran's foreign ministry to accuse Washington of "bad faith"
- Qatar and Saudi Arabia both denounced the tanker attacks on their vessels (the Al-Rekayyat and the Wadyan), blaming Iran; Iran's foreign ministry called Qatar's accusations "contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness"
- Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the US of breaching the MoU through "violating Iranian adjustments in the Strait," "persistent threats of further strikes," "reinstating oil sanctions" and "attacks on southern Iran," declaring "the era of bullying and extortion is over"
Why it matters: The tit-for-tat escalation — more than 80 Iranian sites struck and 85 US facilities hit in return, alongside the US revocation of Iran's oil-sanctions waiver — directly undermines the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding signed just last month to extend a ceasefire and end conflict "on all fronts," while also pulling Gulf neighbors Qatar and Saudi Arabia, whose tankers were hit, into the dispute.
