The United States launched yet another round of strikes on Iran on Sunday, part of an effort it said was to thwart its attacks on traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to the world’s oil supply.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The latest round of strikes commenced at 5 p.m.ET, U.S.
Central Command said in a statement.The goal of the attacks is to curb Iran’s ability to target commercial shipping in the strait at a time when the U.S.
has declared it open for business and Iran has said it’s closed.President Donald Trump directed the strikes, as he did those launched Saturday, “to hold Iranian forces accountable,” CENTCOM said.The Saturday strikes launched by the U.S.
against Iran were retaliation for its attack on a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the waterway, CENTCOM said.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy declared the strait closed on Saturday ET, blaming foreign interference and attempts by several vessels to pass through unauthorized routes, as it said it struck one transiting ship.Iran’s shuttering of the strait was not mentioned in CENTCOM’s statement on overnight strikes, which only mentioned the attack on the vessel.At the conclusion of the strikes, it said U.S.
forces hit 140 military targets, including Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities and coastal surveillance locations.CENTCOM said a crew member is missing and the ship, the M/V GFS Galaxy, could not continue its voyage after a fire and engine room damage.“The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” it said in a statement.Later, CENTCOM declared the strait open, despite Iran’s claim that the bottleneck along its shoreline is shuttered.“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.
“It remains an international waterway.U.S.
forces are ...