The United States launched a fresh round of retaliatory strikes against Iran on early Sunday (7:15 pm ET Saturday) after Tehran hinted at reimposing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, following a warning shot fired at US vessel allegedly using an unauthorised route through the strategic shipping lane.The latest escalation has raised fresh concerns over the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.US Central Command forces announced on X said that the action was in direct response to an attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on a commercial cargo vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.In a statement posted on X, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote, “At 7:15 pm ET today, US Central Command forces began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”According to CENTCOM, the attack left one civilian crew member missing, while the vessel suffered a fire onboard and extensive damage to its engine room, rendering it unable to continue its voyage. CENTCOM said Iran had been given “yet another opportunity” to demonstrate its commitment to the Memorandum of Understanding following previous attacks on commercial shipping but failed to do so.The US military said the latest strikes were intended to weaken Iran’s ability to target civilian vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz.Iran announced closure of StraitPrior to US strikes, Iran’s IRGC Navy, in an X post, announced, “As we stated earlier — any foreign interference or illegal determination of shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with a decisive response and will disrupt the normalization of traffic in the strait.”Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz would be closed “until further notice”.Earlier, they had fired warning shots at a vessel using an unauthorized route.The announcement came after Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met his Omani counterpart on Saturday to discuss the future of the Strait of Hormuz, following days of attacks on commercial vessels and US retaliatory strikes that have strained the interim ceasefire.
