Iran says it struck ships in Strait of Hormuz after US launches new strikes
Harry Sekulichand Toby Mann
Getty Images
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz, after the US military launched a new wave of strikes on Iran.
The latest US attack comes after President Donald Trump said Iran would be hit "hard" and Tehran has taken "too long to make a deal" to end the war.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it began "self-defense strikes" on Wednesday in "response to Iran's unwarranted and continued aggression".
Iranian state media then reported the IRGC had struck two ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and the US have targeted military and surveillance sites in recent days in an escalation of tit-for-tat strikes, testing a fragile ceasefire agreed in April.
Explosions have also been heard on the island of Qeshm in the Gulf, as well as a number of other cities, including Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
In response to the US strikes, Iranian state media reported that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely closed to all type of vessel". Centcom, however, said "commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz".
Oil prices rose shortly after the closure of the shipping channel was announced.
Brent crude oil, seen as the global benchmark, climbed above $95 a barrel after rising by about 2% during morning trade in Asia.
Hours before the latest US attack was launched, Trump had warned: "We hit them hard yesterday and we're going to hit them hard again today."
Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iranian leaders have "taken too long to negotiate a deal", while the Iranian foreign ministry accused the US of "damaging the diplomatic process through the contradictory messages it sends".
In response to Trump's comments Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran "will stand firm against any pressure or threat".
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth later said bombs would be "dropping on key facilities in Iran".
Hegseth said Iran had been given a chance to make a deal but had not taken it, and Trump had said Iran would be attacked again if no peace deal was secured.
In April, the US and Iran agreed a ceasefire that was initially meant to last for two weeks. Both sides have since exchanged intermittent fire, without returning to full-scale hostilities.
However, recent efforts to broker negotiations between Washington and Tehran have stalled and attacks have ramped up.
On Tuesday, a US helicopter was downed in an attack that was blamed on Iran. The IRGC responded by targeting US bases across the Middle East.
In a statement on X, UN Secretary General António Guterres said the Middle East was "being pulled deeper into crisis", and recent attacks meant "the ceasefire is more like a lesser-fire".
"We should not minimize the risks of lesser fire becoming full fire. All parties must work towards a diplomatic settlement. No more attacks. No more excuses," he said in a statement.
