The United States military has said it is conducting another wave of strikes on Iran, a day after launching another round of attacks.<\/p>\n
The escalation on Wednesday, which is the most severe since both sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) ending the fighting in mid June, has left one fireman dead following an attack on Iranshahr airport in southeastern Iran, state news agency IRNA reported.<\/p>\n
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The latest attacks, which have targeted Iranshahr, Bandar Abbas, Konarak, Chabahar, and Bushehr, all in southeastern Iran, and Aq Qala, in northeastern Iran, have threatened a return to full-fledged war.<\/p>\n
The US military\u2019s Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X on Wednesday that at President Donald Trump\u2019s direction, its forces \u201chave started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway,\u201d CENTCOM said.<\/p>\n
The post came shortly after Iran\u2019s Mehr news agency reported air defences were engaging what it described as \u201chostile targets\u201d near the port city of Bandar Abbas.<\/p>\n
Iranian officials later told Fars news agency that the attacks on Chabahar included strikes on a maritime control tower and a depot. Iranian state media later reported that a railway bridge had been targeted in Aq Qala.<\/p>\n
Hours after the US strikes, air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait\u2019s defence ministry reported the country\u2019s air defences confronted rocket and drone attacks.<\/p>\n
The US also conducted attacks on Iran on Tuesday, saying its strikes were conducted \u201cin response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n
CENTCOM said it hit \u201cover 80 targets with precision munitions\u201d before concluding the strikes approximately four hours after they had begun.<\/p>\n
The Iranian army said eight service personnel from the country\u2019s air force and navy were killed in Tuesday\u2019s attacks against areas in the southern cities of Bandar Abbas and Bushehr, state news agency IRNA reported, citing a statement from the Iranian army.<\/p>\n
Both the US and Iran have accused the other of violating the MoU, which ended fighting, lifted the US naval blockade on Iran, and opened the Strait of Hormuz, while leaving more intractable issues, like the future of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and administration of the strait, to be determined over a 60-day negotiating period.<\/p>\n
The key point of contention appears to be over the fifth clause of the MoU, which says that Iran \u201cwill make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels, with no charge for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman, and vice versa\u201d.<\/p>\n
Iran has interpreted the provision to mean it had sole \u201cresponsibility in determining arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz\u201d, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday. That position has been used to justify attacks on unapproved vessels transiting the strait.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MoU required the US to lift its reciprocal blockade of Iran\u2019s ports \u2013 which it did \u2013 [and it] required the US to waive sanctions for the Iranian sale of oil \u2013 which it did \u2013 and it required Iran to not interfere with civilian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d David Des Roches, former Pentagon NATO operations director, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
When Iran attacked these ships, Tehran was trying to instil a new normal beyond the terms of the MoU, in which ships had to go through Iranian waters, and Iran would attack them if they did not, he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s unacceptable to President Trump. So these strikes are a retaliation to that action,\u201d said Des Roches.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has maintained that the MoU requires unfettered passage to all vessels, Al Jazeera\u2019s Kimberly Halkett reported from Washington, DC.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the signing of the memorandum of understanding, opening that 60-day window to allow for broader negotiations, the US has insisted that any uptick in conflict and military clashes is the result of Iran exercising sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d Halkett said, \u201cwhich the White House insists is an international waterway and necessary for the global economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that the US had hit Iran \u201cvery hard\u201d and did not rule out a return to full-scale war.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I say we hit them 20 to one. Every time they hit us, we\u2019re gonna hit them 20. When they hit, we hit back much harder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, at a press conference earlier on Wednesday, he had said that he did not think the war would restart. \u201cAnything that happens is going to be over very quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The latest strikes have drawn condemnation from Trump\u2019s political opponents, including US Senator Bernie Sanders, who said war with Iran will \u201ccost more lives and waste more taxpayer dollars\u201d.<\/p>\n