{"id":546309,"date":"2026-07-12T19:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/546309\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T19:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T19:34:10","slug":"us-and-iran-exchange-heavy-strikes-as-tehran-targets-facilities-across-the-gulf-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/546309\/","title":{"rendered":"US and Iran exchange heavy strikes as Tehran targets facilities across the Gulf \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

US<\/a> and Iranian<\/a> forces have exchanged heavy missile and \u200cdrone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the strait. \u200bHowever, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.<\/p>\n

The strikes extended to Qatar<\/a>, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April, while the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defences had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.<\/p>\n

Iranian media said there had been missile attacks and explosions around the port of Bandar Abbas, home to military facilities on the strait, and nearby Qeshm Island, on Sunday afternoon, as the US reportedly launched another round of attacks.<\/p>\n

The renewed violence casts further doubt on the future of an interim US-Iranian agreement signed last month that aimed to reopen the strait and end the war after a further 60 days of negotiations.<\/p>\n

In the past week, US president Donald \u200bTrump<\/a> has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to more talks.<\/p>\n

The war that began with US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28th has destabilised the Gulf, while Iran\u2019s effective blockade of the strait has driven energy prices higher, fuelling global inflation.<\/p>\n

\"AirAir defence interceptions in the sky above Doha on Sunday. Photograph: AFP via Getty <\/p>\n

Higher \u2060prices<\/a>, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump in advance of November\u2019s US congressional elections.<\/p>\n

Iran has sought to establish a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, which carried one-fifth \u200cof \u200cthe world\u2019s \u200boil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation.<\/p>\n

It said late on Saturday it had closed the waterway after firing a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route. On Sunday, it said it had disabled a second vessel.<\/p>\n

India said one of \u2060its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast \u200bof Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar advised all vessels, including leisure boats, fishing \u200bboats and jet skis, to suspend activities.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Iranian minister arrives in Oman for talks as US seeks pledge on Strait of HormuzOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to \u201crecent illegal movements of the United States military forces in the region\u201d. Permits \u200cwould be issued \u201cas soon as stability and calm are restored\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n

US Central \u200bCommand, however, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what it described as \u201caggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations\u201d from Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

TheUS navy-led \u2060Joint Maritime Information Center reiterated guidance that, despite a severe security threat, an \u201cexpanded\u201d southern route \u2060near Oman was available for two-way traffic.<\/p>\n

Central Command said US \u200bforces hit 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday and more than 300 over three nights of strikes this week \u201cto degrade Iran\u2019s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian state media reported explosions in several port cities and said an Iranian army officer had been killed in \u201cUS-Israeli\u201d attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n

In response, the Guards said they had destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in US ally Jordan, targeted a US radar site in Kuwait, attacked US aircraft carrier support and refuelling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.<\/p>\n

Qatar, which has previously said it would not act as a mediator so long as it was under attack, said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel. It said Iran was \u201cfully legally responsible\u201d for the attack.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Lindsey Graham, key ally of Donald Trump, dies after sudden illness, his office saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The UAE said it detected missile threats outside its borders, Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, Jordan reported missile strikes and Oman reported being targeted with drones.<\/p>\n

Oman said it had summoned \u200cIran\u2019s ambassador to protest over drone attacks in two \u2060regions and the US embassy in Oman told its nationals in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.<\/p>\n

The latest round of hostilities came after talks in Oman on Saturday between Iran\u2019s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi and Omani foreign minister Badr Albusaidi. Iran said the talks were aimed at co-ordinating arrangements in the Strait \u200cof Hormuz, and were set to continue with a Qatari presence.<\/p>\n

Araqchi later discussed regional developments in a phone call with Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar, whose country has been a key mediator between the US and Iran, Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the \u200bUS revoked the licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude after Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire.<\/p>\n

While Iran has not claimed responsibility for \u200bearlier ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Iran\u2019s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on X: \u201cThe era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.\u201d \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and \u200cdrone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[969,37635,42,11829,3410,43,4444,40,38,41,39,36222,115],"class_list":["post-546309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-energy-crisis","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-qatar","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-arab-emirates","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}