Pres. Donald Trump (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP)
The US carried out a new series of airstrikes on Iran on Tuesday, but Pres. Donald Trump of the US says a deal with Tehran is still possible.
“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow,” Trump told Hugh Hewitt on Monday.
Oil prices rose more than 9% amid fears of renewed conflict.
The US Central Command (Centcom) announced that the attacks had begun. This is the third consecutive night of attacks.
“These attacks will continue to exact a heavy toll on Iranian forces and weaken their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” Centcom said.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Iran had attacked two ships in this strategic waterway. One crew member was killed and eight others were injured.
The oil-rich UAE is a key US ally in the region and has already reported several missile and drone strikes by Iran.
“The Ministry of Defense announces that the national tankers Mombasa in Al Bahiyah were targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles while sailing through the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz, within Oman’s territorial waters,” the Emirati Ministry of Defense wrote on X.
The reports about this attack follow after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps announced new attacks on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman on Monday.
Trump formally notified the US Congress last week that the US has resumed its military conflict with Iran. It gives the Pentagon another 60 days to act in the region without congressional approval.
Trump also threatened to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared uranium enrichment facility.
Pres. Donald Trump. (Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
“Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we’re coming, and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” he told Hewitt.
Centcom announced, at Trump’s behest, that a blockade of Iranian ports would be reimposed starting Tuesday.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that the US would be known as “the protector of the Strait of Hormuz” and that a 20% tariff would be imposed on all cargo transported through the strait.
Although Iran’s ports will be blocked again, Trump said “all other countries will have fair and free access to the strait”.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, immediately mocked Trump’s proposed levy, writing on X that “Potus is absolutely right” that the party guaranteeing safe passage should be compensated for it – but that Tehran would charge less.
“20% is obviously too much,” he said.
Washington strongly opposed Iran’s desire to levy tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, as international law generally prohibits it.
Despite the escalating conflict, Trump said Monday that a deal with Tehran to end the war in the Middle East is still possible.
“Yes, I think a deal is possible. Absolutely,” Trump told reporters. “We had an agreement with them two days ago, and then they said: ‘Oh no, we can’t close that agreement. We have to negotiate it further’.”
Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said earlier on Monday that the memorandum of understanding that served as the basis for the negotiations in June and led to the lifting of the US blockade is “in crisis”.
Iranian state media reported deaths in the latest US strikes and said large areas in the south and west of the country had been targeted.
According to state media, at least four explosions were heard on Monday east of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it attacked US military targets and bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait, according to state media.
Iran maintains that only US interests in the Gulf region are being targeted, but a spokesman for the country’s military command warned that any cooperation between Gulf countries and the US would be considered “an act of war”.