Prateek Tanmay
As the US-Israel and Iran conflict completes four months, Tehran has drawn a red line over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and said only the Iranian administration is “in charge of resuming” shipping through the strategic waterway, as President Donald Trump directed American forces to launch fresh strikes in Iran against alleged ceasefire violations.
The fresh round of violence between the US and Iran has threatened the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and triggered President Trump to issue a violent ultimatum that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”.
Regional strikes and ultimatums threaten peace talks
On Sunday, Iran launched drone and missile strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain after the US military launched a second round of airstrikes targeting 10 locations of Tehran’s military in the Strait of Hormuz, AP reported. Tehran threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war if alleged ceasefire violations continued in the waterway.
The US President warned that a moment might come soon when he abandoned talks with the Islamic Republic and the US would “militarily finish the job”.
Central Command discloses targets of airstrikes
In a statement, the US Central Command said it attacked Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” after a ship was earlier hit off the Oman coast on Saturday.
The ship, which was struck by Iranian military, was a Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carrying crude oil for a state-run enterprise in Qatar, AP reported.
Interceptions and structural damage in Gulf states
Bahrain’s interior ministry on Sunday said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building but no one was killed in the attack, while Kuwait, which is a major US army base, said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and no one was wounded in the incident.
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Iran outlines sovereign management and timeline for reopening
Detailing Iran’s plan over the reopening of Hormuz, country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said only Tehran is in charge to reopen the strategic waterway under the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
“According to the MoU, the strait will return to its pre-war capacity within 30 days under the management that Iran will adopt and after the removal of obstacles by the Islamic Republic,” Araghchi said, Press TV reported.
