US Strikes Iran; Tehran Vows to Keep Strait of Hormuz Shut
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- US Central Command carried out drone, air, and navy strikes on Iran on Wednesday morning, following a separate seven-hour overnight operation, with Centcom saying the attacks "further degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz"
- A 90-minute wave specifically targeted Iran's coastal defences and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut until the US ended its "acts of aggression" and explicitly threatened to close "other oil and gas export routes that serve the interests of the United States and its allies"
- Trump vowed on Tuesday to strike Iran's bridges and power plants next week if Tehran did not return to talks, while walking back a threatened 20% Strait of Hormuz toll in favor of "massive" trade and investment deals with Gulf states
- The US reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports Tuesday evening, stopping vessels from transiting to and from Iranian ports — a measure previously lifted under a memorandum of understanding struck last month
- Iran's army launched separate attacks on US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, according to Iranian state media; the US allies said they intercepted the drones and missiles
- Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has virtually stalled, triggering a sharp rise in oil prices, and UN human rights chief Volker Türk had earlier condemned Trump's April threat to bomb Iran's civilian infrastructure as potentially a war crime under international law
Why it matters: Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has virtually stalled and oil prices have spiked sharply, with Iran's IRGC now threatening to close additional oil and gas export routes beyond the Strait itself — meaning US-allied energy infrastructure across the Gulf faces compounding risk. Iran has simultaneously expanded the battlefield by attacking US targets in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, forcing allies to actively intercept drones and missiles. Trump is running military escalation and Gulf state trade diplomacy in parallel, not sequence.
