The United States restarted military strikes against Iran on Tuesday after Tehran was accused of hitting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command confirmed the renewed action as a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran appeared to be unraveling further.
In a statement, the command said American forces had begun carrying out a series of forceful strikes intended to make Iran pay a steep price for allegedly targeting commercial ships staffed by civilian crews in an international shipping lane.
Officials said the strikes were launched in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, calling Tehran’s actions unjustified, reckless and a clear breach of the ceasefire.
A US official told CNN the operation was meant as “punishment” and warned that the strikes “won’t be over for a bit.”
Iran’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, accused the United States of breaching the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, claiming Washington had repeatedly violated parts of the arrangement.
In a statement obtained by Al Jazeera, Iranian officials said the move reflected “bad faith” and showed that the Trump administration could not be trusted.
The escalation followed reports from the British military that three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, as the United States also revoked a license allowing Iranian oil sales under an interim agreement aimed at ending hostilities between the two nations.
The United States resumed strikes on Iran Tuesday following a series of hits from Tehran on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz
The new assaults in the fuel-shipping waterway were the most in a single day since late April, according to the UN International Maritime Organization.
The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.
Hours later, the US revoked the 60-day license issued last month by the Treasury Department that waived sanctions on Iranian oil.
A US official said the license was revoked because Iran’s actions in the strait were unacceptable and needed to be met with consequences.
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The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One tanker was traveling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.
The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the UK maritime agency said.
Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.
Location details provided by the UK agency showed that all three attacks occurred off the coast of Oman or the neighboring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that the ships were using the route near Oman.
The US is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and reaching a permanent end to the war launched February 28. An interim deal has been strained.
Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the U.S. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states.
In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel.
The license issued by the U.S. authorized the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil through August 21.
US Vice President JD Vance said at the time that lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a ‘good foundation for a successful final deal’ to end the war.
US sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil had been in place since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
After the US and Israel launched the war, and after the closure of the strait, the US had authorized the temporary sale of Iranian oil at least twice as an incentive toward a deal.
Meanwhile, talks between Iran and the US appeared to be on hold until after the burial of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war.
This is a developing story.
