US launches new round of strikes

Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported that a location on Hengam Island was hit by “American enemy” projectiles.

According to the country’s semi-official Mehr news agency, air defenses were activated around the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

There were also reports of explosions of an unknown nature in the towns of Bampur and Chabahar. However, Iranian officials denied these reports.

This comes after the US military announced another round of strikes against Iranian targets.

The US military is now imposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

This is the second naval blockade the US imposes on Iran this year after the first blockade was lifted in June after the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

President Donald Trump first demanded a 20% fee for ships going through the Strait of Hormuz with US military protection, but he then backed down on his demands, citing requests from the country’s allies in the Gulf.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the naval blockade the US is about to enforce against Iran’s ports “dismantles” the Pakistan-brokered agreement between the two countries.

The decision, taken by US President Donald Trump, has “in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum,” Gharibabadi said, adding that Iran currently has no commitments when it comes to the MoU.

In an interview with State TV, Gharibabadi stressed that the Strait of Hormuz is part of Iran’s national security, vowing that Tehran will exercise its sovereignty over it at all costs. 

The US military said it is carrying out a new round of strikes against Iran, as the escalation between the two countries continues.

“At 3 p.m. ET today, US Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran to continue degrading Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command said on X.

The strikes are taking place ahead of the planned a US naval blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas, due to go into effect at 22:00 CET (16:00 Eastern Time in the US).

Iranian media has been reporting on various strikes, including near the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military carried out strikes against Iran on Tuesday, unnamed US officials told several news agencies.

Both Reuters and the Associated Press cited unnamed US officials as saying the strikes were meant to eliminate “emerging threats,” without providing further details. 

This comes hours before the US military is set to start the naval blockade on Iranian ports.

The Houthisin Yemensaid they shot down a Saudidrone after the latest exchange of hostilities between the two sides. 

The Iran-backed militant group said they “succeeded in shooting down an enemy” drone while it was “carrying out hostile missions” over the Al-Bayda Governorate, located in central Yemen. 

This came a day after the group accused the Saudis of attacking Sanaa’s International Airport, which is under the Houthi rebels’ control.

The current exchange of fire is the most significant escalation between the two sides since a 2022 truce.

Sirens warning of incoming rockets or drones were heard across Bahrain, the country’s Interior Ministry said.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the ministry posted on its X account.

Tehran has targeted Bahrain, as well as other countries in the region, in recent days in retaliation for US strikes on Iran. 

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the US Congress could include Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Islamist militia backed by Tehran, to the Russia sanctions bill, calling it “a big thing.”

“This is in honor of (late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham). He wanted this more than any other thing. There’s a good chance it gets done,” Trump said.

The bill is currently being considered by Congress.

US President Donald Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said “the Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran.”

Trump accused Iran’s “lying, violent, malicious” leadership of “taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION.”

“We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming in to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo,” Trump said. 

The US president also walked back a proposal for a 20% fee for ships to pass through the Strait, and said the US would instead make trade and investment deals with Gulf Arab states.  

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump added. “Those Investments will be MASSIVE, but at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”      

Explosions were heard in Iran’s south near the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported.

Local media said blasts were heard on the island of Qeshm, located in the Strait of Hormuz. The island has been repeatedly targeted by the US army since strikes in Iran were renewed several days ago.

State media reported that a US projectile hit the island at 7 pm local time (1530 GMT).

The news could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s army said it is responding to “hostile missile and drone” threats, with sirens sounding across the country.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would strike back if Iran launches new attacks on Israeli territory. 

“I will say it to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us,” Netanyahu said. “The days are over when someone strikes us and we don’t hit back with a decisive blow.”

The US and Israel jointly launched the war against Iran on February 28.

Iran has attacked Gulf allies of the US  in recent days as a ceasefire between US and Iran has fallen apart and the US has struck Iran. Iran, however has not yet launched any fresh attacks in the past few days on Israel, which is widely considered the top ally of the US in the Mideast region. 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has accused the UK of being in breach of international law after it designated the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a security threat and proposed to ban support for it.

The ministry said the ​IRGC was an ​official ‌part of Iran’s armed forces and thus a state institution that it was not permissible to target, calling the UK’s move “unjustified” and “irresponsible.”

London on Monday proposed a law to ban support for the IRGC under new powers that aim to stop foreign states employing proxies to carry out surveillance, sabotage and other hostile activities.

The proposed law is to go before parliament this week. 
Iran has previously denied using proxies.

India’s Foreign Ministry has called for an end to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after summoning Iran’s deputy ambassador over the killing of an Indian mariner in a strike on two tankers there.

“We strongly condemn these attacks and acts of violence targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” the ministry said.

“In particular, the targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must cease in order that free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, can be restored at the earliest,” it said.

It said it had lodged a “strong protest” with Tehran.

The Iranian attack on the tankers MT Al Bahiyah and MT Mombasa also injured 10 other Indian seafarers, two of them seriously, according to the ministry.

The two UAE-linked commercial vessels were carrying a combined crew of 46 people. 

Two Ukrainian nationals were also injured in the cruise-missile attack, according to the UAE’s Defense Ministry.

German international shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has criticized plans announced by US President Donald Trump to charge ships for the transit of the Strait of Hormuz.

It would be “fundamentally wrong” to levy fees through international waters, the company told the Reuters news agency.

The Hamburg-based shipping giant said ​it could not ​reliably quantify the financial ​impact ‌of tensions in the ​Gulf ⁠region on its business.

Trump said on Monday that he would charge 20% ​on all cargo shipped through the Strait ​of Hormuz “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”

Bahrain’s Defense Force said on Tuesday that several Iranian aerial attacks had been successfully repelled, in a statement issued after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out missile and drone strikes on the kingdom.

The military accused Iran in its statement of continuing “its systematic hostile approach” through attacks targeting civilian sites in Bahrain.

The statement said using missiles and drones to attack civilians and private property was a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law.

A journalist from the AFP said that blasts had been heard in the Bahraini capital, Manama, with missile alert sirens sounding for the third time since dawn.  

Bahrain’s Defense Ministry had warned on X that “sirens have been set off, we urge citizens and residents to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”