WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Saturday it launched a new round of strikes against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. Central Command said the strikes were carried out at the direction of President Donald Trump. "A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage," the U.S. Central Command said on social media.
“A vessel that had jeopardized maritime security by switching off its systems was struck and brought to a halt,” the navy of the Revolutionary Guard said, without giving details about the ship. The statement said several ships attempted to move through the waterway on an “unauthorized route” and disregarded warnings to correct their course.
The strait, the Revolutionary Guard said, was closed “until further notice” and until “the end of U.S. interference in this region.” Acts of aggression against Iran “will be met with a severe response, and new enemy bases in the region will be targeted,” the navy said.
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The United States demands that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the strait and all lanes will be open with no tolls through the waterway, senior U.S. officials told reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump departs the White House on Saturday for Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va.
Trump, who declared an end to the ceasefire, said Friday the U.S. and Iran agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this past week.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran, the U.S., Qatar and Pakistan agreed to negotiate in a call that mediators were trying to arrange for Saturday while Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Oman.
It was not immediately clear whether the efforts were successful. Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi met in Oman to exchange "views on appropriate mechanisms for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz," according to a statement from the Iranian foreign minister.
Oman's state news agency later said Omani and Iranian negotiators would continue talks "at the technical and political levels."
Oman is helping to mediate an end to a war that destabilized the Persian Gulf and raised prices around the world since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
About a fifth of the world's oil supply transited through the Strait of Hormuz before the war, and Iran's effective blockade of the waterway caused energy prices to surge, fueling global inflation.
CNN reported Saturday that Oman made a draft proposal for the strait, including free navigation through its southern corridor in Omani territorial waters. The plan called for vessels transiting the northern corridor through Iranian territorial waters to obtain prior approval from Iran, though no tolls would be imposed, CNN said.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the CNN report.
The tomb of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, is seen in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhadm, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.
Three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire this past week, prompting the U.S. to hit Iranian sites, and Iran to respond with strikes on U.S. military sites in Gulf states. While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.
The U.S. revoked the license authorizing the sale of Iranian crude Tuesday after the vessels were struck in the strait. On Friday, the U.S. issued new Iran-related sanctions targeting a key financier for Iran's supreme leader and 13 other individuals and entities, following Tehran's resumed attacks on oil tankers in the strait, the Treasury Department said.
Araghchi accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire agreement. "There can only be mutual compliance," he wrote on social media Friday.
The flare-up cast further doubt over the future of an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict and pushed oil prices higher, a politically sensitive issue for Trump ahead of November congressional elections.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue 'talks.' We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!" Trump posted Friday on social media.
A woman holds portraits of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed Feb. 28 during Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran, as mourners gather Wednesday during funeral ceremonies in Karbala, Iraq.
A written statement from Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, on Saturday threatened vengeance for the death of his predecessor and father, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike on the first day of the war.
Released to mark funeral ceremonies for former leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, which the new leader did not attend, it said the vengeance would take place whatever happened to Iran.
"We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs," the message said.
Trump posted on Friday that he ordered the U.S. military to be prepared to launch thousands of missiles against Iran if Tehran attempts to assassinate him. The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. media reported this past week that Israel shared intelligence with Washington that Iran recently devised such a plan to assassinate Trump.
“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!,” he posted.
At the funeral ceremonies Thursday, a huge crowd of mourners packed a courtyard, some bearing banners reading, "We Will Kill Trump."
