US launches strikes on Iran after tankers hit in Strait of Hormuz

The US has launched a series of “powerful” strikes on Iran in response to attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday it had begun the assault, “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent individuals in an international waterway”.

The tankers were damaged within a 24-hour period on Monday and Tuesday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). No casualties were reported.

Iran has not claimed responsbility for the strikes on the vessels.

Earlier on Tuesday, a US official said Iran would be met with consequences and called the attacks “wholly unacceptable”.

The US Treasury had also revoked a sanctions waiver that temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have also denounced the attacks, with each saying a tanker from its country had been hit as it was transiting in or near the Strait.

Centcom said in a statement posted to X that US strikes were “in response to Iranian attacks”.

“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” it said.

The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity before Centcom’s announcement, insisted that US negotiators would continue to work in “good faith” towards a final deal with Iran.

The revoked US licence, which authorised Iran to sell oil and petrol products, was part of the memorandum of understanding, signed by Washington and Tehran last month.

A notice published on the Treasury’s website on Tuesday said it would allow a wind-down period to 17 July for transactions that had been allowed under the waiver.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said it held Iran “fully responsible” for an apparent targeted attack on a vessel called Al-Rekayyat as it transited near the Strait.

Qatar demanded that Iran “immediately cease all practices that undermine regional security” and “refrain from endangering global energy supplies & the resources of the countries of the region in pursuit of narrow interests”, he added in a post on X.

In a separate social media post, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said Iran had targeted the Saudi tanker Wadyan as it crossed the Strait.

It added that the assaults were “an attack on the security and safety of international navigation, and the security of global energy supplies”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has so far only commented on Qatar’s accusations, describing them as “contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness”.

In a statement, posted to Telegram, he added that commercial vessels using routes not coordinated with Iran or tampering with the ship’s tracking face a risk of collision and disrupt Iran’s efforts to “facilitate safe transit” in the Strait.

The UKMTO said a tanker travelling through the Strait had reported a fire after an unknown projectile hit an engine room on Monday.

In two separate incidents on Tuesday, a tanker reported being hit as it exited the Strait but was able to proceed to its next port of call, while another tanker reported sustaining minor structural damage after being struck, the organisation said.

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding, agreed last month, extended a ceasefire between the two countries.

The 14-point agreement would put an end to all conflict ‘on all fronts’, says that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and also commits a $300bn (£220bn) fund for the “reconstruction and economic development” of the country – although the US is not required to contribute.