The US carried out strikes on 140 sites in Iran after a missile attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, with Donald Trump boasting it ‘bombed the hell’ out of its adversary
The US has struck more than 100 sites in Iran following a missile attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
The container ship’s crew was forced to abandon it while it was ablaze, while Iran carried out strikes on targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman in a chilling escalation. The US military’s Central Command said it hit around 140 targets, targeting missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps and communication equipment.
The flashpoint comes as Donald Trump’s haphazard Middle East war, started in February along with Israel, shows no sign of ending despite being midway through an interim 60 period to reach a peace deal. Labour minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “It’s a bit daft to go into a war if you don’t know how you’re going to get out of it.
“And I think a lot of people around the world will be anxious about their own economic security because of the situation in the Gulf. And we want everybody to de-escalate.
“Of course it’s crazy that Iran is still attacking others. And we want everybody to get around the table and negotiate a solution.” The US said the latest attacks “degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait”.
It comes days after Trump said an interim deal in the Iran war was “over.” He bragged to NBC’s Meet the Press: “We bombed the hell out of them last night.”
The US insists the Strait – a key shipping route which transports 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas – was open, but Iran disagrees. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and a main negotiator, responded: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER.”
And he continued on X: “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
In the Strait of Hormuz attack, a Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran, with a civilian crew member missing, US. Central Command said. All of the crew, including the missing member, were Indian nationals, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
India condemned the attack and said it was working with Oman on a search-and-rescue operation. It called for “free and unimpeded” navigation through the strait.