The United States military has said it struck Iran hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, in the worst escalation since the two sides signed an interim peace deal two weeks ago.
Both nations have accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict.
In a social media post on Saturday, US President Donald Trump threatened to ensure Iran will “no longer exist” if there were any further trespasses of the agreement.
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” President Trump said on social media.
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
In Iran, state broadcaster IRIB said early Sunday local time that explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without providing further details.
“Iran was given a chance to honour the ceasefire agreement but elected not to,” US Central Command said in a statement.
It said the strikes were “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defence, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.
A US defence official later reported that the strikes on Iranian targets were complete, according to Fox News.
Washington said earlier that it hit Iranian targets overnight. Iran said it responded on Saturday by striking targets linked to US forces.
Saturday’s attack on a tanker in the strait followed another on a cargo ship on Thursday that triggered the latest escalation.
Iran has made a fresh bid to assert control over the world’s most important energy shipping route, which has begun to reopen after months of disruption.
Britain’s UKMTO maritime security agency said the tanker hit on Saturday had sustained damage to its bridge, with all crew reported safe.
The Joint Maritime Information Centre, run by a coalition of navies protecting shipping, raised its security threat level as a result of recent incidents.
Iran has not directly commented on reports of specific attacks on ships. But Iranian state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards fired “warning shots” toward unspecified vessels attempting to pass through channels not approved by Iran, and that this was now prompting other ships to seek Iranian permits before attempting to cross the strait.
Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry said it launched “defensive” attacks on US-linked military targets, while Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s regional headquarters, reported an Iranian drone attack.
-with Reuters