“The US military reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports early
Wednesday in response to Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through the
Strait of Hormuz. At the time, President Donald Trump threatened that Iranian
bridges and power plants could be targeted by next week if talks were not
resumed.
The renewed blockade of Iranian ports has provoked fresh
strikes in countries in the region where American forces are stationed, and put
a temporary ceasefire agreement in even greater jeopardy.
Days of US attacks on Iran, Tehran’s retaliatory strikes in
the Middle East and the two countries’ attempts to fight for control of the
waterway that carries a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas in peacetime
threaten to push the region back into all-out war.
The US first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then
lifted it in mid-June – shortly after the signing of the interim agreement. The
agreement set a 60-day ceasefire and a similar period for talks on issues such
as Iran’s nuclear program, but the talks have stalled as fighting over the
strait has intensified.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards threatened on
Wednesday to cut off all energy exports from the Middle East because of the
blockade.
“Oil and gas exports from the region will be for everyone or
no one,” it said.
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At the time, Trump said in an interview with Fox News
Channel on Tuesday night that more US strikes on Iran would be carried out in
the next two days, with bridges and power plants likely to be targeted by next
week if talks are not resumed. The US has already struck at least one bridge.
“You better make a deal or you’ll be left with nothing,”
Trump warned.
When US President Donald Trump announced the reimposition
of the blockade on Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% tax on ships
sailing through the strait. But hours before the blockade was to be reimposed,
he abandoned the plan to levy the tax, citing demands from Gulf allies and
promises of huge investments in the US economy.
Both US and Iran strike after renewed blockade
The US Central Command said on Wednesday that the US had
launched another wave of strikes in seven hours, striking dozens of targets in
the reimposition of the blockade.
Bahrain and Kuwait were on missile alert early on Wednesday
as the countries faced what has become a routine Iranian fire, further
complicating the ceasefire.
US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the Central
Command leadership, said in a statement that Iran had launched dozens of
missiles and drones into neighboring Gulf Arab countries.
“U.S. forces hold Iran accountable for its unprovoked
aggression that continues to endanger the lives of innocent people,” Cooper
said.
At least 19 U.S. warships are in the Arabian Sea, including
two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship carrying more than 1,000
Marines. Central Command also said on social media that “hundreds of military
aircraft are operating throughout the Middle East.”
When the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran on Feb. 28,
Tehran effectively closed the strait, attacking and threatening ships. That
sent prices for oil, fertilizer and other commodities soaring.
Iran has recently attacked ships sailing through the strait
near Oman, a route patrolled by the US military and not controlled by Tehran,
sparking recent violence. The US has threatened to reopen the strait by force,
but experts say that would require a much larger force, possibly tens of
thousands of ground troops.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed
Iravanis, has criticized the continued American attacks on his country.
“The US is an aggressor, not a victim,” he wrote to the head
of the world body, the state news agency IRNA reported.”
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