The US military unleashed a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday and revoked a license allowing the country to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, putting further pressure on an already fragile ceasefire.

After a day in which huge crowds mourned Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the holy city of Qom, US Central Command announced that it had begun a series of “powerful” strikes intended to “impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping.”

“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said on X.

Iranian media reported explosions early Wednesday local time in the southern port city of Sirik, on Qeshm Island, and in Bandar Abbas. No civilian deaths were reported, but several people were injured by shrapnel from an “enemy projectile” that hit a commercial pier in Sirik, according to an Iranian state TV reporter. The reports said strikes also hit fishing piers in Sirik and in Bandar Abbas, where several fishing boats were set ablaze.

A US official told Reuters that strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, coastal surveillance systems, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and drone launch sites.

The strikes came shortly after Washington revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil, raising pressure on Tehran as it negotiates with the US over a final settlement to the conflict.

“Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences,” a US official told AFP.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding was “entirely performance-based,” warning that Tehran would see benefits only if it showed “good behavior.”

Oil prices rose more than 3% after the US announced the move.

Work continues toward final agreement

A US official said earlier negotiators continued to work in good faith toward a final agreement with Iran. But control of the strait has given Tehran immense leverage, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military. Analysts say Tehran uses attacks on ships to underscore that leverage as it negotiates a long-term peace deal with the US.

Under the interim US-Iran agreement, the US Treasury issued a June 22 general license to allow the sale........

© The Times of Israel