US Strikes Iranian Targets in Strait of Hormuz Amid Escalating Tensions

Hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz flared up again on Tuesday evening as the United States launched fresh strikes on Iranian targets in and around the strategic waterway.

"Explosions were heard again in Bandar Abbas city and Qeshm island," Iranian state television reported, adding that blasts were also heard on Lavan island, home to one of Iran's Gulf oil export terminals.

Oil prices rose in the wake of the latest attacks with US crude up by as much as 5%.

The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the strikes, saying they were in response to "recent attempted attacks by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American service members deployed to the region."

US President Donald Trump said the strikes, which he described as "large and powerful," were retaliation for "failed" Iranian attempts to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz and the firing of "eight missiles" towards a US military base in Jordan, all of which he claimed were shot down.

"If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level," Trump wrote in his latest social media threat. "But it will not be the biggest attack of them all. That is waiting in the wings."

Iran: IRGC vows to respond to US strikes

An IRGC spokesman, quoted by the Fars state news agency, said the US would "regret" its latest attacks, which state television said included a strike on Jiroft airport in southeastern Iran, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) inland from the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's joint military command said its armed forces would deliver what they described as "crushing and devastating blows" against the US, while state media said the army had launched operations against unspecified US targets in the region.

The Tasnim news agency said a "decisive operation by Iran's armed forces in response to the US enemy has begun. The US bases and interests in the region are being targeted by Iranian missiles and drones."

G20: US threatens further sanctions on Iran

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that his department was planning to impose fresh sanctions on Iran.

"We are probably going to announce a bank sanction this week, and we will announce one the week after," Bessent said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting of finance ministers in North Carolina.

"We are speaking to our allies here, who have all come forward, and we have had a great show of support."

He also said the US was considering airplane leasing companies and other companies which continue to do business with the IRGC.

"We have zero tolerance," he said. "We are going to economically asphyxiate this regime."

Iran's Pezeshkian meets Putin

The latest flare-up comes just hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier on Tuesday that Tehran would reciprocate any US move that signals a return to the collapsed interim ceasefire deal.

Pezeshkian, speaking after the US and Iran had already resumed exchanges of fire for the first time in over a month, accused Washington of "reneging on its commitments" under the agreement, which fell apart in June, with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement's terms.

Pezeshkian was speaking on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he also met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Putin reportedly told Pezeshkian that Russia stood in solidarity with Iran, and that the two countries would maintain their economic relationships despite the current turbulence.

Pezeshkian thanked Putin and criticized the US for having "no right" to impose sanctions on other countries.

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher