U.S. launches new strikes on Iran after attack on ship in Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. military has launched a third round of strikes against Iran this week after Iranian forces attacked a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one crew member missing and the vessel disabled. Iran has also announced the closure of the strait.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes began at 7:15 p.m. ET on Saturday after forces from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship traveling through the strait.

The attack caused a fire and significant damage to the ship’s engine room, leaving it unable to continue its journey.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the attack happened about 9 nautical miles east of Oman. Military authorities reported that the rear of the container ship was damaged and caught fire.

CENTCOM said the new strikes were ordered by President Trump to further degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian crews and commercial vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” CENTCOM said.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB announced that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz and fired a warning shot at a vessel.

Earlier, in a separate message carried by IRIB, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei threatened those accused of killing Iranian leaders and civilians during the past two wars.

“We have a list of the criminals who assassinated our leader and our people in the past two wars,” Khamenei said. “These criminals and murderers will not die a natural death in bed.”

Trump said Wednesday that he considered the ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran to be over after Tehran resumed attacks on commercial shipping.

“To me, I think it’s over,” Trump said. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore.”