US Strikes Iran Again After Trump Rejects Hormuz Deal
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- U.S. military shot down four Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth, calling the strikes "measured, purely defensive" to maintain a ceasefire that took effect in early April.
- Trump dismissed an Iranian state TV report claiming a deal to restore Strait of Hormuz shipping to prewar levels within a month, declaring "Nobody's going to control" the waterway and threatening that Oman would "have to blow them up" if it didn't behave.
- Trump said he felt no pressure to make a deal, claiming Iran's economy has been "clobbered" by the war, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. "prefer[s] the negotiated, diplomatic route."
- Iran called Monday's U.S. strikes a "gross violation" of the ceasefire, and parliamentary national security chief Ebrahim Azizi said Tehran's demands—uranium enrichment rights, authority over the strait, and lifted sanctions—would not be abandoned.
- The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade, and traffic has been a fraction of usual since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began Feb. 28.
- Israel launched 120+ airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday—one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks—while Iran has demanded an end to those strikes as a condition of any deal.
Why it matters: The Strait of Hormuz normally carries one-fifth of global oil and LNG trade, and traffic has been a fraction of usual since the U.S.-Israeli war began Feb. 28. With the ceasefire in name only and Trump publicly rejecting any framework giving Iran control, the shipping disruption that's already boosted energy prices shows no clear resolution in sight.
