The U.S. military reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports on July 15 after attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions between Washington and Tehran again escalated across the region.
The move came as an interim deal aimed at easing the conflict continued to unravel, with both sides seeking to assert control over one of the world’s most important energy routes.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to halt energy exports from the wider region in response to the blockade.
“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it said.
The United States first imposed the blockade in mid-April before lifting it in mid-June, a day after an interim agreement was signed to allow 60 days of negotiations on issues including Iran’s nuclear program.
Talks have since stalled as fighting around the strait has intensified.
U.S. Central Command said American forces carried out a new wave of strikes on Iran as the blockade resumed, hitting dozens of targets over seven hours.
Missile alerts were issued in Bahrain and Kuwait early Wednesday after incoming Iranian fire, while Jordan said it shot down three Iranian missiles. Iran claimed attacks on all three countries.
U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf Arab countries.
“U.S. forces are holding Iran accountable for unwarranted aggression that continues to endanger innocent lives,” Cooper said.
Central Command said at least 19 U.S. warships were in the Arabian Sea, including two aircraft carriers and an amphibious assault ship carrying more than 1,000 Marines.
Trump had announced on July 13 that the blockade would return and that Washington would impose a 20 percent fee on ships passing through the strait.
He later dropped the fee plan, saying Gulf leaders had proposed investment arrangements with the United States instead.
Trump said he preferred that approach because he did not believe ships should be charged for passage through the strait.
He also warned that more U.S. strikes could follow if negotiations did not resume.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, accused Washington of aggression.
“The U.S. is the aggressor, not the victim,” he wrote, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Regional mediators are still trying to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.
