Trump reinstates US blockade of Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trumpsays the United States is reinstating a blockade targeting Iranian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

In a social media post, Trump says Iranian vessels and their customers will no longer be allowed to enter or leave through the strategic waterway.

“The USA. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘The guardian of the Hormuz strait,’ but as such, and as a matter of fairness, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world,” he said.

Trump says other countries will continue to have what he calls fair and open access to the route.

The announcement follows another major exchange of fire between US and Iranian forces

Before Iran asserted control after the war began, the Strait of Hormuz carried around one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.

Yemen‘s internationally recognized government has claimed an attack on the airport in Sanaa, saying it was to stop an Iranian plane carrying Houthi rebels from landing.

“The terrorist Houthi militias — backed by the Iranian regime — prevented Yemeni national aircraft from landing at the airport in the capital, Sanaa, while insisting on allowing an Iranian plane to violate Yemeni territory; consequently, the airport runway was targeted,” the Yemeni Defense Ministry said.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have initially claimed that Saudi Arabia launched the airstrikes on the airport, with military spokesman Yahya Saree saying “this aggression will not go unanswered or unpunished.”

Orders have been issued to evacuate the airport and surrounding areas.

A Saudi-led coalition based in Yemen’s south, where the internationally recognized government sits, has for years been fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthis, who control the capital along with most of central and northern Yemen.

Bahrain‘s military has accused Iran of targeting civilians with its latest attacks on the kingdom, contradicting Tehran’s claim that it has hit only military sites.

“Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its heinous attacks with missiles and drones that target civilians in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the general command of the island nation’s military said in a statement.

It added that air defenses had “intercepted and destroyed a number of Iranian aerial attacks” on Monday morning.

Iran has said it has carried out strikes on US military facilities and infrastructure in the Gulf country, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Iran will not comply with the recent memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the US if Washing did not stick by its commitments to end the war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

“Each time that the other party has failed to meet its obligations, we did not uphold ours … We will continue to act in this manner,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson ⁠Esmaeil ​Baghaei ​said.

Nevertheless, Iran would continue talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman.

“The role of the mediators is to continue their efforts to prevent an escalation of tensions,” Baqaei said.

Iran said that it destroyed radar systems in Oman, news agency AFP reported on Monday, citing a statement published by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) media arm.

The IRGC Navy “targeted and destroyed” a long-range airborne radar and a ship-detection radar in Oman, the IRGC said in a statement run by its outlet Sepah News.

There is yet to be a statement from Oman on the Iranian attack.

On Sunday, Oman  — which long played the role of an interlocutor between Iran and the West — had summoned the Iranian ambassador to lodge a formal protest over Tehran’s attacks on Omani territory.

Jordan said it shot down four missiles launched by Iran, state news agency Petra reported on Monday.

According to Petra, a Jordanian rspace from Iranian territory early in the morning, adding that no casualties or material damage was reported in the incident.

There was no immediate comment from Iran on the claimed downing of its missiles.

Kuwait’s armed forces said on Monday they were responding to “hostile aerial targets” on Monday as Iran retaliates over US airstrikes.

“The Armed Forces are currently intercepting hostile aerial targets within Kuwaiti airspace,” the head of Kuwait’s army said in a statement ran by the official KUNA news agency.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had struck the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain on Monday in what it described as a second phase of Tehran’s retaliatory strikes against recent US attacks.

Bahrain’s air raid alarms went off for the second time in two hours, according to posts made by the US ally’s interior ministry on X.

Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Iran struck US military bases in Kuwait, state media IRNA cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying.

The Ali Al-Salem air base — which hosts members of the US Air Force — was reportedly among the sites attacked.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that it has concluded a new wave of strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions.

The US forces hit Iranian air defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats, according to a statement released by CENTCOM on Monday.

It said that the US used fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time during the latest strikes.

The US military insisted that Tehran “does not control” the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it,” CENTCOM said.

The statement also said that the US military was “postured and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available to commercial shipping” despite what it alleged was Tehran’s “continued unwarranted aggression, harassment, threats and arbitrary declarations.”

In a statement, Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had launched a new series of strikes across the Middle East.

The IRGC said it fired missiles and drones at the Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, setting fuel tanks and ammunition depots on fire.

The IRGC described the strikes as the first phase of its response to US attacks on Iranian coastal bases.

Air raid sirens rang through Bahrain on Monday morning, the island nation’s interior ministry said, ordering ordered residents to seek shelter as Iran targets US interests in the Gulf in response to latest US strikes.

“The siren has been sounded… citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the Ministry of Interior posted on X.

One person died and four others were injured in a US strike on a water pumping station in Iranian city of Mahshahr in the southwest, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported early Monday.

“Following the attack of the American enemy on Monday morning… one person was martyred and four others were injured,” IRNA cited Valiollah Hayati, Khuzestan province’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement, as saying.

There was no immediate statement from the United States on the reported attack.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei on Sunday called on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urge all parties involved  in the Iran war to stop allowing the United States to use their territories as what he called “launchpads for aggression against Iran”.

Guterres had earlier released a statement expressing his concern over “the serious escalation and renewed military confrontations in the Gulf,” including the Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the attacks by the US on Iran, and the attacks by Iran on targets in the neighboring nations.

Baqaei responded to the statement claiming that the escalation was not a military confrontation.

“It is the continuation of a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression initiated on 28 February by the United States and Israel,” he said on X.

The spokesman continued to say that Tehran does not “attack.”

“Iran’s strikes on US military bases and assets stationed in the southern Persian Gulf constitute a legitimate and lawful exercise of its inherent right to self-defense under international law,” he said.

He also attempted to correct Guterres, insisting on the use of the term “Persian Gulf.”

“BTW, it is ‘Persian Gulf’; please be loyal to the UN directives (notably on 18 August 1994, and 14 May 1999) mandating the use of the full term “Persian Gulf” in all UN texts,” Baqaei remarked.

Baqaei said that it was “far from responsible” to blame Tehran for “defending its sovereignty while failing to hold the aggressors accountable for their egregious violation of international law.”

Iran reacted to the latest round of US strikes on its territory by saying they have “rendered futile” the diplomatic efforts of the past few months.

According to a foreign ministry statement cited by the AFP news agency, the US military strikes “has caused the return of insecurity to the Strait of Hormuz and disruption of international commercial shipping.”

Tehran also blamed Washington for “openly” interfering in the process of “Iran implementing the necessary arrangements” in the Strait.