US Orders Airstrikes Against Iran After Attack on Commercial Ship

President Donald Trump ordered renewed airstrikes against Iran on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a commercial ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The M/V GFS Galaxy, a container ship sailing under the flag of Cyprus, is unable to continue its journey after the Iranian attack caused an onboard fire and significant damage to the vessel's engine room, U.S. Central Command said. A civilian crew member is missing, Centcom said.

"In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait," Centcom said in a social media post.

The Revolutionary Guard said it has closed Hormuz to all ship traffic "until further notice," according to the Iranian state news outlet PressTV.

"No vessel will be permitted to transit the strait," the Guard said in a statement published by PressTV.

The airstrikes on Saturday are the third time the U.S. has bombed Iran this week in retaliation for attacks on commercial vessels transiting Hormuz.

Iran has attacked ships that are using a southern route along Oman's coast protected by the U.S. military. Tehran is demanding that vessels use a northern route through its territorial waters.

The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 to reopen the strait. But Washington and Tehran are now disputing the terms under which Hormuz was supposed to reopen.

Under the agreement, Iran promised to "make arrangements using its best efforts" to ensure safe passage for ships transiting Hormuz and agreed to not charge a toll for 60 days. But the agreement left the precise transit routes undefined.

"The underlying problem here is that the memorandum of understanding did not reach an understanding with respect to the management of ship traffic through the strait," said David Goldwyn, who served as the U.S. State Department's special envoy for international energy affairs under former President Barack Obama.

"It essentially punted that issue," Goldwyn said.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month that the U.S. military would "assure the flow of energy out of the Gulf with or without an agreement with Iran."

"Iran will not have the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz going forward," Wright said at a conference in New York City on June 24. "That's their key leverage and we're taking that leverage away from them."