WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/DUBAI – The US launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning hours after President Donald Trump said Washington was “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates traveling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight. The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation that is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into fighting with Tehran.
The attacks come as Iran and the US vie for control of the strait through which a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas once passed in peacetime. The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose to a one-month high of over $84 in trading early Tuesday, still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher.
Trump said Tuesday that he scrapped a plan to charge 20 percent tolls on cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz after several Arab nations of the Persian Gulf advised him against it and instead offered to invest in the US.
“I was called by different people, different countries, kings and emirs and all the people that we all know and love,” he said from the Oval Office. “And they said we’d love to do it a different way.”
The US president defended his tolling idea even as he acknowledged that nations generally shouldn’t be able to charge fees for access to shipping routes, arguing that his concept would actually be a reimbursement for the security that the US provides.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the US doesn’t need access to the strait, unlike its allies, despite the impact that its closure has had on oil prices around the globe.
“It was never fair to me that we would be guarding the strait when we basically don’t take anything,” he said, adding that he was ultimately convinced that the Gulf nations’ investment proposal in the US was a better idea. “That was very satisfactory to me. I think it’s actually much better.”
Kuwait’s military said yesterday it is currently “engaging hostile aerial targets,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the Kuwaiti armed forces. The military warned that “any explosion sounds that may be heard are the result of the Air Defense systems intercepting hostile attacks.”
The public is urged to follow the safety and security instructions issued by the relevant authorities,” the statement concluded.
A US air base in Jordan was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles on Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, while calling on Jordanians to dismantle American bases in the kingdom.
“You know very well that not only do we not have any enmity with your country, but we also love you, the noble people, who understand the pain and oppression of the Palestinian people more than any other nation,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Fars News.
Jordan’s armed forces said on Tuesday they intercepted and shot down four missiles that entered Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory, according to state news agency.
The United Arab Emirates’ Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that Iran attacked two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one mariner and wounding eight.
The Emirati Defense Ministry said Iran launched two cruise missiles at the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah. The attacks set both tankers ablaze, though the fires were extinguished.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack on the tankers, saying the vessels “ignored repeated warnings.”
“They chose to pass through a minefield and were subsequently targeted and disabled,” the Guard said.
The Emirati Defense Ministry said the attack on the tankers killed one Indian national and wounded six Indians and two Ukrainians.
“The UAE reserves its full right to respond to this escalation and to take all necessary measures to protect its territory, its citizens and residents,” the Defense Ministry added.
The Emirates used similar language before launching attacks against Iran during the war. Fighter jets could be heard overheard Tuesday morning in Dubai.
Bahrain also came under renewed attack on Tuesday morning as Iran retaliated over the latest round of US airstrikes. Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens three times, urging the public to seek shelter. Explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital Manama. There was no word on any damage or casualties from the attack.
The five hours of US strikes were the third consecutive night of attacks against Iran as Trump reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping and proposed charging a 20% fee to guard the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian media reported strikes on a number of the cities and said four people had been wounded and rescue operations were underway.
But on Tuesday, oil minister Mohsen Paknejad insisted Iran’s oil exports were continuing as usual.
The latest hostilities come after Iran said at the weekend it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, casting further doubt on an interim deal to halt the war and driving oil prices higher.
Trump said Monday he would probably soon order a strike on the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site.
Asked about Pickaxe, which was not among the three nuclear facilities targeted by the US last year, Trump said the US was closely surveilling it.
“Pickaxe is a possible target for a nice big fat shot right near the front door,” he said. “We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation… We’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
Satellite images released earlier this month showed recent construction and vehicle activity at Pickaxe, which is tunneled into a mountain near the main Natanz nuclear facility. The exact purpose of the site is not known, and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have never been granted access.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security, there has been persistent activity at Pickaxe since April, when a ceasefire was declared in the US-Israeli war with Iran. The think tank argued that any work carried out at the site violates the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran.
