President Donald Trump ordered renewed airstrikes on Iran on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a merchant ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said in a statement.
The IM/V GFS Galaxy, a Cypriot-flagged container ship, is unable to continue its voyage after an Iranian attack caused a fire and extensive damage to the ship’s engine room, US Central Command said. An off-duty crew member is missing, Centcom said.
“In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to undermine Iran’s ability to attack civilian sailors and commercial vessels passing freely through the port,” Centcom said in a social media post.
“Iran made a bad choice. Now they’re paying,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an X song.
The Revolutionary Guard said it had closed Hormuz to all shipping “until further notice,” according to Iranian newspaper PressTV.
“No vessel will be allowed to pass through the road,” the guard said in a statement published by PressTV.
Saturday’s airstrikes are the third time the US has bombed Iran this week in retaliation for attacks on commercial ships passing through Hormuz.
Iran attacked ships using the southern route off the coast of Oman protected by US forces. Tehran wants ships to use the northern route through its territorial waters.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 to reopen the road. But Washington and Tehran are now arguing over the conditions under which Hormuz should reopen.
Under the deal, Iran promised to “make arrangements using its best efforts” to ensure safe passage for ships passing through Hormuz and agreed to not charge for 60 days. But the agreement left the exact transport routes undefined.
“The problem here is that the cooperative agreement has not reached an understanding about the management of shipping at the port,” said David Goldwyn, who served as the US State Department’s special envoy for international energy affairs under former President Barack Obama.
“It’s a complicated issue,” Goldwyn said.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last month that the US military will “ensure the flow of energy in the Gulf with or without a deal 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 step and we’re taking it away from them.”
Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman for talks with Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi. Oman has been one of the key mediators in efforts to end the war between the US and Iran.
A US official told MS Now that its technical negotiating team was not involved in the Oman talks.
A Middle East diplomatic official with direct knowledge of the negotiations told MS Now that France and the UK are studying proposals drafted by Oman that could allow tolls to be levied on the road, as long as the tolls are not mandatory and are supported by the UN’s International Maritime Organization, which regulates maritime transport.
