By Humeyra Pamuk, Gram Slattery and Tala Ramadan Reuters | Posted by TOE

• Iran says it attacked “US bases and strategic centres” in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar after the US bombed Iranian cities for a second consecutive night.
• The US attacks have killed 14 people and wounded 78 over two days with blasts reported in Iranian cities along the Strait of Hormuz, including Bushehr, Chabahar, Bandar Abbas, and Sirik.

The U.S. military said on Wednesday it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain in the latest escalation to derail efforts to end the war.

The latest round of attacks, which the U.S. said was carried ‌out in response to Tuesday’s assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait, came hours after President Donald Trump said he believed an interim ceasefire with Iran to be “over.”

“U.S. Central Command ‌forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM, the U.S. military’s Middle East command, wrote on X.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial ​shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

The U.S. strikes rattled several cities along Iran’s southern coast and left some areas without power. Iran responded with a second day of attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, both home to U.S. military bases.

Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar briefly issued an “elevated security threat” alert before later giving the all-clear.

The U.S. strikes against Iran on Wednesday will be greater in number than the ones carried out on Tuesday, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote on ‌his Truth Social platform.

Control of the strait, through which a fifth of ⁠global oil supplies passed before the war, has given Tehran immense leverage, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military. While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the ship attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to gain leverage in negotiations.

“The U.S. has yet to learn that bullying and breaking its ⁠commitments no longer come without a cost. Let me be clear: If you strike, you will be struck back,” Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, wrote on X.

“The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through U.S. threats.”

The latest exchange of strikes appeared to dim hopes of turning a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 into a permanent deal to end the war, which began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.

Asked before a NATO ​summit ​in Turkey on Wednesday whether the memorandum of understanding was over, Trump said: “It’s a very interesting question. To me, I ​think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them.”

“If we make a deal ‌with Iran I’m not sure that will stick,” Trump later said. “I found them to be very dishonourable people.”

But Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to escalate military action before backing off, said he did not expect a return to full-fledged war, and that it was not clear whether the negotiations on reaching a permanent deal would continue.

Also on Wednesday, Trump said he did not think the war would restart: “Anything that happens is going to be over very quickly … and will only make it safer, including for oil.”

Wednesday’s attacks pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude futures rising about 1% to $78.80 a barrel by 0054 GMT. Even so, prices remained well below the late-April peak of more than $120 a barrel.

MAJOR IRAN PORT CITY HIT BY STRIKES

Iranian media reported strikes primarily along Iran’s southern coast, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman.

Among the locations hit were ‌Bandar Abbas, home to Iran’s largest port and key navy and Revolutionary Guards facilities on the Strait of Hormuz, as ​well as Konarak and Chabahar, neighbouring coastal cities near Iran’s border with Pakistan.

Electricity had been restored to most areas of Chabahar ​after strikes knocked out power for some in the city, Mehr news agency reported, citing the ​local utility. Media also reported that a maritime traffic control tower in Chabahar was hit.

A firefighter was killed in a strike on the airport in the southeastern city of ‌Iranshahr, state media reported. In northern Iran, a U.S. attack hit a railway ​bridge near the town of Aqqala, according to Press TV.

Prior ​to the fresh U.S. attacks on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei had said U.S. strikes had violated the memorandum by challenging a clause that “emphasizes the Islamic Republic of Iran’s responsibility in determining arrangements for the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz”.

A spokesperson for parliament’s National Security Commission had said options for retaliation included withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), changing Iran’s ​nuclear doctrine, and closing the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the ‌Red Sea, another crucial global shipping route.

In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Iran’s mission to the U.N. accused the United States of “blatant violation of the Charter ​of the United Nations and its international obligations” and said its attacks violated the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries.

Qatar condemns attacks on commercial vessels in Hormuz

Qatar’s prime minister has condemned attacks targeting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Araghchi “reviewed the latest developments regarding the military escalation between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past two days”, a foreign ministry statement said.

He “emphasised that such actions undermine confidence, threaten the security of international navigation, and damage efforts aimed at consolidating regional security and stability”.

The Qatari prime minister further “stressed the need for all parties to commit to dialogue and diplomacy, and to implement what was agreed upon within the framework of the interim US-Iran deal”.

He also “reiterated the State of Qatar’s support for all endeavors aimed at containing the escalation and reaching a comprehensive agreement that contributes to consolidating security and stability, and achieves sustainable peace in the region”.