The United States announced another wave of strikes against Iran on Monday, coming just hours after President Donald Trump said Washington was “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
‘We’re taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, the Hormuz Strait,’ Trump told CBS News Monday evening.
“And I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing,” Trump said.
The latest operation marks the third straight day of American strikes on Tehran, and the fifth such action in the past week.
“At 4:45 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command began launching the third consecutive night of strikes against Iran, at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
The command said the strikes were intended to “continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces” while weakening their ability to target civilians and commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, meanwhile, has maintained that it controls the vital waterway, as the latest exchange of fire raised fears of a broader slide back toward full-scale conflict.
Until now, the United States had said the strait should remain open to all traffic without tolls, as it had been before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The U.S. announced a fresh round of strikes on Iran on Monday, shortly after President Donald Trump said the United States was “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command posts file footage of US Navy ships and aircraft operating in the Middle East
Any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.
The new round of attacks followed Trump telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, ‘We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow – and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.’
‘They have nothing,’ Trump added. ‘They have nothing going, other than they have big mouths.’
The President also claimed the US would be paid a 20 percent tariff for securing safe passage for commercial vessels through the Persian Gulf. The details of Trump’s demand were not immediately clear.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US ‘will be, from this point forward, known as “The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”‘
He added: ‘The process and formation will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’
The blockade will not take effect immediately: shipowners must be given 24 hours’ notice under maritime law.
Oil prices spiked by 5 percent, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, hitting $79.93 – its highest price since June 19.
This is the third consecutive day with American strikes on Tehran and the fifth in the past week
Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran’s Houthi proxy terror group in Yemen, opening a new front in the war after Iran launched strikes against five US allies in the region.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say Saudi warplanes bombarded Sanaa International Airport in Yemen. The group’s spokesman declared an ‘end to the de-escalation phase’ and warned that the ‘aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.’
The attack reportedly came as an Iranian aircraft attempted to land at the airport. Evacuation orders have been issued for the airport and surrounding areas.
A Saudi-led military alliance based in Yemen’s south for a decade has been fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels based in the north.
Tehran says the fallout has already reached the negotiating table, with its foreign ministry claiming Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran has entered a ‘crisis phase.’
Asked about the escalating strikes across the region, Trump told Fox News: ‘We’re taking over the strait.’
The Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf chokepoint carrying about a fifth of the world’s oil, has been a central flashpoint since the war began in February, sending markets spiraling with every escalation.
The truce collapsed last week when Iran struck three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the US retaliated with two rounds of strikes.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks at a weekly press conference
Iran has insisted it controls the critical waterway, as another exchange of fire threatened a return to all-out war
Trump pronounced the deal dead from the NATO summit in Ankara: ‘There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.’
US strikes continued this weekend after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth vowed revenge for the Iranian strike and said: ‘Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the strait closed until further notice after the attack, according to a statement cited by CNN.
Iran targeted various Middle Eastern countries that host US military bases, claiming responsibility for strikes in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.
Some of the targets attacked by US forces included missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks and coastal surveillance locations, US Central Command said.
A spokesman added that President Trump directed the attacks ‘to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.’
Iran had said the strait was being shut down ‘given the precariousness that was caused by this unlawful interference by outside parties.’
The regime added that the waterway’s closure would be ‘until further notice and until regional interference by the US ceases’ and that ‘no vessel or naval craft will be allowed to pass.’
Iran said on Saturday it struck US facilities at Jordan’s Prince Hassan Air Base, claiming it destroyed a command center and drone hangars.
Washington denied the regime’s claim, with a US official stating no Americans were hurt and no serious damage was done.
Jordan said it shot down four missiles, and the three that landed caused only minor damage.
