US forces began a new wave of strikes on Iran at 2100 GMT Sunday, after an Iranian attack on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz pushed the Iran–Hormuz war into a tighter cycle of retaliation. The crew abandoned the ship after it went up in flames, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice.
That closure threat sat alongside CENTCOM’s opposite claim that the strait was still open to lawful transit. CENTCOM said its forces were positioned and prepared to ensure freedom of navigation, and said traffic was flowing.
Strait of Hormuz after the ship attack
Early Sunday, an Iranian attack hit the commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, turning a commercial route into the trigger for the latest round of strikes. Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf then posted on X: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
Iran has also sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran warned vessels not to sail through the strait without its authorisation. In practical terms, that puts the movement of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz at the center of the dispute, not just the exchange of strikes onshore.
CENTCOM and Iran clash on access
CENTCOM rejected Iran’s closure claim. It said the Strait of Hormuz was “open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit,” and added: “Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, by contrast, said “the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region.” That gap between the two claims is the operational problem for ship operators: one side is warning of exclusion, the other is saying passage continues.
The new US strikes followed earlier pressure in the same cycle. CENTCOM had announced approximately 140 strikes the previous night, while Iran’s foreign ministry condemned aggressive US attacks against Iran. Trump said he considers the ceasefire over while leaving the door open to more talks.
Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait
The weekend fighting spilled beyond the strait. Qatar said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel, and Qatar said Iran was fully legally responsible for the attack. The UAE said it detected missile threats outside its borders, Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, Jordan reported missile strikes, and Oman reported being targeted with drones.
Kuwait’s army later reported damage from strikes, and an attack on an oil drilling platform in Kuwait injured a worker. Oman summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest over drone attacks in two regions, and the US embassy in Oman told its nationals in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.
Muscat talks fail
On Saturday in Muscat, Iran and Oman held talks on arrangements for managing the strait and transit routes, but they did not reach a result. Iran’s foreign ministry said diplomacy with Oman failed under US pressure on Oman, leaving the weekend strikes and the closure threat to define the next phase of the standoff.
For vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the immediate issue is not a legal argument on paper but whether the route stays passable under force. Iran’s Guards issued the closure warning, CENTCOM said traffic was flowing, and those two positions now sit over the same waterway.
