US military strikes Iran after attempted shipping attacks

The US launched new air strikes ⁠on Iranian targets, quashing hopes that an exchange of fire last weekend might not presage a wider renewal of hostilities.

US President Donald Trump ⁠said that the latest attack on Iran was "justified," and threatened bigger strikes if ‌Tehran ⁠retaliated.

Mr Trump, in a Truth Social post, said the US military was striking Iranian ‌targets near the Strait of ⁠Hormuz in retaliation for Iran's "failed attempt ⁠at ‌adding sea mines" to the Strait and for ⁠shooting eight missiles at ⁠a US military base in Jordan.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed to make the United States "regret" fresh attacks around the Strait of Hormuz, even as Mr Trump warned Tehran against striking back.

"Severe punishment awaits the aggressors; the United States will regret its new attacks," said Guards spokesman Hossein Mohebbi in a post on X.

Oil prices had already risen after last weekend's first exchange of direct attacks since July and after reports of two tankers being hit leaving the Strait, the global oil supply waterway that Iran has effectively closed to shipping.

Brent crude futures, already up 2% on the day, jumped almost 2% more on the reports.

Tehran remained defiant, warning that it would prevent oil being exported from the Gulf, despite a threat by Mr Trump to hit Iran "hard" in response to the renewed Iranian strikes, and a warning from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Washington was about to impose new sanctions.

"Today at 12pm ET (1600 GMT), US forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran," US Central Command posted on X.

"The strikes follow recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American ‌service members deployed to the region."

Iran's state broadcaster said ⁠there had been reports of explosions on Iran's Qeshm Island, on the northern side of the strait.

The state-linked news agency Nour News said there had been reports of explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas and in Chabahar, a port on the southern coast.

The US Embassy in Qatar urged Americans currently in the Middle East to exercise "heightened vigilance and be aware of potential flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions".

Scale of resumption of hostilities unclear

The six-month-old conflict had shifted into an economic standoff before the weekend strikes, in which US forces attacked Iran's Larak Island on Sunday and Iran responded by launching missiles at two US air bases in Jordan.

Although he warned of a Us response to the Iranian strikes, Mr Trump also told reporters yesterday that they did not signal a return to full-scale war, and a senior Iranian source told Reuters they were a "limited and contained confrontation".

But pledges by both sides to respond ⁠to further attacks have highlighted how quickly a conflict that has increasingly been fought through sanctions, blockades and economic pressure could spill back into military action.

Iranian ‌President Masoud Pezeshkian had said earlier that Tehran would reciprocate immediately if Washington honoured its commitments under a June ⁠Memorandum of Understanding that ‌was intended to halt the conflict.

The MOU declared an end to fighting that has now killed thousands in Iran and Lebanon since US and Israeli strikes began on 28 February.

But it also deferred many of the most difficult issues and paved the way for a broader 60-daynegotiation period, which passed without further agreement.

"I am stating clearly that if the US returns to ⁠its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate," Mr Pezeshkian said in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ⁠which includes Russia and China.

But Iranian officials have shown no public sign of bowing to pressure.

"If the enemy wants us not to export oil from the Persian Gulf, no one will be able to export oil," Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

If the US intensified its "siege", he said Tehran would respond militarily.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference in Tehran that Washington was "addicted to making excessive demands and has mistaken negotiations for dictating terms".

"As long as they act in this manner, they will certainly get no result other than what they have achieved so far," he added, warning that ‌Tehran would "use all our capabilities, whether on the battlefield or through our diplomatic apparatus".

Mr Pezeshkian ealier thanked Russia's Vladimir Putin for Moscow's stance on the conflict during an international summit.

Russia and Iran - two of the most sanctioned countries in the world - have massively deepened their military and trade ties during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin and Mr Pezeshkian held talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, bringing together more than a dozen leaders - including Mr Putin, China's Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He later met Mr Putin, telling him: "We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage".

He added: "This shows that our relationship is a strategic relationship; it is not an ordinary relationship."

Putin admires Iran 'courage'

Mr Putin said that Russia was "trying to provide you with the assistance you need".

"We admire your courage and resilience in the fight for your national interests," the Russian leader said, according to Russian media.

"Despite the military and political situation, we are maintaining the momentum of our trade and economic relations from last year," he added.

Russia and Iran are both under massive international sanctions and have become increasingly reliant on each other.

The Middle East war began in late February with the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

'A multipolar world'

Mr Putin met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday at the SCO summit, which is also playing host to leaders of countries including Turkey, India and Pakistan.

The summit takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow's Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran.

Mr Xi said Russia-Chinese ties had become "more solid" and that their "prospects will be even brighter", while Mr Putin said cooperation was "successfully developing on all fronts".

Russia's economy has become increasingly dependent on China since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The SCO has historically focused on economic issues but has gained momentum in other fields in recent years under Moscow's and Beijing's leadership.

"The UN Charter must continue to serve as a key source of international law," Mr Putin told the summit.

But he added that "it is clear that new multilateral regional structures ... are organically integrating into the architecture of a multipolar world alongside the United Nations".

On top of its 10 members, it now has 15 so-called "dialogue partners", including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and two observer countries, Afghanistan and Mongolia.