The United States and Iran launched new attacks on each other's interests in the Gulf on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump backed down on his threat to heavily tax ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump vowed to reimpose a naval blockade on Iranian ports instead, while saying a negotiated deal was still possible.
Why did Trump drop his Strait of Hormuz fee?
Trump scrapped the 20% cargo fee he had proposed for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, replacing it with trade and investment deals from Gulf states. He announced the reversal on Truth Social as fighting between the U.S. and Iran surged to its fiercest levels since an April ceasefire.
What strikes happened in the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran reported fresh strikes late Tuesday on its Gulf island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for Gulf oil and gas that Tehran has largely blocked since the war began. This came after the U.S. military said it hit targets across Iran, including the port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, to degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping.
Local authorities said the U.S. struck four points in Bushehr, which hosts Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant, as well as an Iranian border area near Iraq and Kuwait. Iran in turn hit two ships in Omani waters in the strait, killing a crew member, according to the United Arab Emirates. A Norwegian tanker was also hit by an explosion off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.
How has the U.S. blockade on Iran's ports changed?
Iran started blocking the strait after U.S.-Israel attacks in February, prompting a U.S. blockade on Tehran's ports that eased once the sides agreed a preliminary deal in June. Monday was the quietest day for Hormuz crossings by commodity vessels since June 13, before that deal briefly boosted traffic through the strait.
U.S. Central Command said Iran's ports on the waterway would be blockaded from 2000 GMT on Tuesday. Washington has opposed Tehran's desire to charge tolls in the strait, which international law generally forbids. Oil prices jumped more than five percent after the latest strikes before paring gains as Trump backpedaled on his proposed levy.
What other attacks happened in the region?
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they fired missiles and drones on Bahrain, targeting a residential building for U.S. forces and other facilities, after the latest U.S. strikes. Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks and accused Tehran of targeting civilians, after explosions and sirens were heard in Manama.
Iran also launched attacks on Jordan, which said it shot down four missiles from Tehran. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their strikes targeted a U.S. air base and urged Jordanians to demand the removal of American forces from the region. Since last week, renewed U.S. attacks have killed at least 28 people in Iran, according to an AFP tally.
What has Trump threatened next?
Trump threatened to destroy Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site near Natanz where Western intelligence suspects Iran is building an undeclared enrichment facility. "Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we're coming and there's not a damn thing they can do about it," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iranian leaders Tuesday that Israel would respond forcefully if attacked. Speaking from Dimona, he said the days of Israel absorbing strikes without retaliating are over.
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