{"id":574078,"date":"2026-07-07T22:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/574078\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T22:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:56:10","slug":"us-military-launches-series-of-fresh-powerful-strikes-against-iran-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/574078\/","title":{"rendered":"US military launches series of fresh \u2018powerful strikes\u2019 against Iran \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US<\/a> military has launched a series \u200cof strikes against Iran<\/a>, US Central Command said Tuesday, \u200badding that the strikes were in response to what it said were Iranian attacks on \u200bthree commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait \u2060of Hormuz<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cUS Central Command forces have \u200cbegun \u200claunching \u200ba series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy \u2060costs for targeting \u200band attacking commercial shipping,\u201d \u200ba US military statement said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s demonstrated \u200caggression was unwarranted, dangerous, \u200band a clear violation of the ceasefire,\u201d \u2060it added.<\/p>\n

It was \u2060unclear \u200bwhat specifically the US targeted but Iranian media said six projectiles hit the area of Taheroui pier in Sirik in southern Iran. This marks the first known US military \u200cstrikes against \u2060Iran since late last month, when there were several days of strikes and \u200ccounterstrikes between the two.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s \u200cforeign ministry condemned the US treasury\u2019s \u200cmove to revoke the temporary \u200bsuspension of sanctions on Iranian oil<\/a> sales, saying the \u200bdecision breached the Islamabad memorandum \u2060on ending the war \u200cand \u200cholding \u200bWashington responsible for the consequences.<\/p>\n

The ministry \u2060said \u200bIran would \u200btake any measure \u200cit deemed necessary to \u200bsafeguard its interests and \u2060national \u2060security.<\/p>\n

The \u200bUnited States reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil on Tuesday, as a US official warned that \u200cIran\u2019s attacks \u2060on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz \u200cwere \u201cwholly unacceptable\u201d and would \u200bbe met with consequences.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the British military said three tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

The US treasury issued the 60-day licence last month, waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of an interim agreement to end the fighting.<\/p>\n

The earlier assaults in the strait were the most in a single day since late April, according to United Nations International Maritime Organisation figures.<\/p>\n

The fresh attacks threatened to choke off the flow of traffic in the strait just as countries hoped to restore normal shipping practices and ease the global economic strain of the war.<\/p>\n

One tanker was travelling off the coast of Oman when it was hit and caught fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.<\/p>\n

\"Graphic:Graphic: PA <\/p>\n

The other two ships sustained some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the UK maritime agency said.<\/p>\n

Tehran, which has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, is suspected of attacking other ships that have used another route close to the Omani shore.<\/p>\n

Location details provided by the UK agency show all three attacks occurred off the coast of Oman or the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, making it likely that the ships were using the route near Oman.<\/p>\n

The US is eager to press ahead with negotiations with Iran aimed at fully reopening the strait, rolling back Tehran\u2019s disputed nuclear programme and reaching a permanent end to the war launched on February 28th. An interim deal has been strained.<\/p>\n

Previous attacks in the strait have sparked retaliatory strikes by the US. Iran then attacked Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n

One tanker was carrying liquid natural gas south through the strait near Limah, Oman, when a projectile hit the left-side engine room and sparked a fire, the UKMTO said.<\/p>\n

Iranian state TV, quoting anonymous sources, implied that Tehran carried out the assault on a tanker it said was carrying natural gas from Qatar. However, there was no official claim from the Islamic Republic for the attack.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Crowds march through Tehran to mourn slain Iranian leader Ali KhameneiOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an \u201cunacceptable attack\u201d on international navigation and global energy security. He called it a \u201cserious and explicit violation\u201d of international law.<\/p>\n

In a post on X, he said Qatar holds Iran \u201cfully legally responsible\u201d for the attack.<\/p>\n

Later Tuesday, the UK maritime agency reported that an oil tanker was hit on its left side as it exited the strait near the Omani-Emirati border. A third tanker was struck by a drone off Oman, the agency said.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s joint military command warned last Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the strait must use its approved routes. It also said that interference by US forces in the strait \u201cwill be met with a rapid and decisive reaction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ships going to the north on the Iranian route must register with Tehran. Those going south work with Oman and the US.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Monday at the White House, US president Donald Trump<\/a> warned Iran that it would need to \u201cmake a deal, or we\u2019re going to finish the job\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather make a deal, because I don\u2019t want to affect 91 million people,\u201d Mr Trump said. \u201cWe can knock down their bridges in one hour. We can knock out their energy supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

In peacetime, a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the channel. \u2013 Reuters\/AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US military has launched a series \u200cof strikes against Iran, US Central Command said Tuesday, \u200badding that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[138015,9,10,356,13,14,6,18929,11,12,15,16,5,9951,168834,7,8,384,2863,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-574078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-ali-khamenei","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-donald-trump","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-oil","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-united-nations-un","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116881168551693982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}