After Trump's 'over' declaration, the US military has announced that it will be launching new strikes against Iran.
The?U.S. The?U.S. military announced on Wednesday it was launching new strikes against Iran to?keep the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for traffic open. This came hours after Donald Trump declared the interim agreement to end war with Iran as "over." The United States claimed that the latest attack was in response to the Tuesday assault on three cargo vessels transiting the Strait. It shook several cities along Iran’s southern coast, and some areas were left without power. "U.S. central command forces have begun conducting additional strikes against Iran in order to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten the freedom of navigation along the?Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM wrote on X.
"The United States holds Iran accountable for its recent unjustified attack against commercial shipping and crews who were freely navigating an important international waterway." Tehran has a lot of leverage because it controls the Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital waterway for oil shipping. It can force the U.S. military into a standstill. Analysts claim that while Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on the ships, it uses these actions to gain leverage when negotiating a long-term agreement with the U.S. The latest escalation has dashed hopes that a memorandum signed on June 17, which was intended to be a permanent agreement ending the war started by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28, could become a lasting peace deal. Iran announced on Wednesday that it had launched attacks against U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait as a response to previous U.S. airstrikes.
When asked?before the NATO summit in Turkey if the memorandum was over, Trump replied: "It is a very interesting and important question. For me, it seems to be over. I don't wish to deal with these people." Trump said later, "I'm not certain that a deal we make with Iran will last." "I found them to be very dishonourable people." Trump, who repeatedly threatened military action, before backing down, said he didn't expect a full-fledged conflict and that it wasn't clear if the negotiations to reach a permanent agreement would continue. Iran's official news agency reported that there were explosions heard in several locations along Iran's southern Gulf coast, including the port of Bandar Abbas and the cities of Konarak and?Chabahar, and electricity was cut in some parts of Chabahar. Nournews (affiliated with Iran's top security agency) cited a military source who said that Iran planned to launch a massive attack on U.S. Army base in the area in retaliation.
(source: Reuters)
