The U.S. and Iran on Sunday offered starkly different perspectives on the status of the Strait of Hormuz, as both sides seem poised to continue a cycle of deadly retaliatory attacks over control of the waterway.
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In a whirlwind series of media interviews on Sunday, President Trump declared that the U.S. military had hit Iran “very hard” overnight and, as a result, the Strait of Hormuz is now open for business.
Mr. Trump added that, following the strikes, Tehran had agreed to a peace deal that included “no nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing,” but quickly reneged.
“Then, all of a sudden, two hours after that, they hit a ship with a drone. And I said, ’These people, there’s something wrong with them,’” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
His comments followed an earlier statement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, saying its “forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression.”
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” CENTCOM posted on X.
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But Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which Tehran established during the war with the U.S., reported earlier in the day that the strait was closed until further notice, citing “illegal movements” by CENTCOM over the past week.
“As soon as the stability and calm are restored, all requests will be reviewed based on the schedule and the necessary permits will be issued,” the agency wrote on social media.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had picked up significantly after the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding last month. The agreement required Iran to halt all attacks on commercial ships and charge no tolls for at least 60 days while negotiators hammered out a comprehensive peace agreement.
However, successful passages through the strait have declined since tensions over control of the waterway flared up last week.
Early last week, Iranian forces struck several tankers reportedly traveling through the Strait of Hormuz in Omani waters. Since the signing of the memorandum, Iranian officials have insisted that ships must travel along pre-approved routes and work with Iran’s military if they wish to transit safely.
The U.S. said the strikes by Tehran constituted a clear violation of the ceasefire outlined in the memorandum and launched retaliatory attacks on more than 100 targets in Iran’s coastal provinces.
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Some reports have alleged that senior Iranian officials admitted to U.S. advisers that the attacks on the tankers were a mistake and blamed the incidents on extremist factions within the military.
But U.S. officials don’t appear entirely convinced, or that the Iranian attempt at an explanation matters.
“I don’t buy it,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “I don’t think we buy it. And at the end of the day, where’s the discipline and the public apology if that’s the case? And that’s simply what the president and his team asked for.”
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CENTCOM on Sunday accused Iran of attacking a Cypriot-flagged vessel on Saturday in the strait and launched retaliatory attacks on more than 140 targets.
Iran confirmed that its forces struck a vessel in the waterway, which it said was transiting “illegally,” and launched attacks on U.S. military installations in the Gulf in response.
Iran’s attacks over the past week have targeted U.S. military assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar.
The United Nations condemned the escalating attacks from both sides on Sunday, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres warning that a return to full-scale hostilities would be “catastrophic” for the region and the world.
It remains unclear if the U.S. intends to respond to Iran’s most recent attacks on Gulf installations with further strikes.
However, Iranian state-affiliated media reported Sunday that several explosions were heard in coastal towns, just hours after Iran announced retaliatory strikes against U.S. military installations in Persian Gulf states.
The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that explosions rocked the coastal city of Bandar Abbas and the area of Qeshm, another city on Iran’s coast.
The semi-official Mehr news agency also reported attacks on Iran’s Farur island, located southwest of Bandar Abbas. The report added that one telecommunications worker had been killed and two others injured in the strike.
At least 10 projectiles also reportedly struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz.
Hossein Amir Teymouri, the island’s governor, said that all the targets were military installations and there were no casualties.
Following the strikes, Fars reported that the IRGC launched a drone attack on U.S. rocket launcher systems in Kuwait.
Iran has not directly blamed the U.S. for the strikes, and there was no immediate statement from the White House or CENTCOM.
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