U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged heavy missile and drone attacks on Sunday, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities across the Gulf and again saying it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
The renewed fighting has cast fresh doubt over an interim U.S.-Iran agreement signed last month, which was intended to reopen the vital waterway and create space for 60 days of negotiations aimed at ending the war.
The latest strikes came after several rounds of attacks and counter-attacks linked to Iran’s push to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The new barrage marked an escalation in both pace and range, extending to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April.
The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defences had engaged missiles and drones launched from Iran.
U.S. Central Command said the U.S. military began launching further strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, saying the operation was aimed at continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins told CNN that U.S. aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone.
President Donald Trump referred to the weekend strikes in a brief phone interview with Reuters, saying: “We’re beating them up.”
Iranian media reported missile attacks and explosions around Sirik and Bandar Abbas, port cities near the strait that are home to military facilities, as well as nearby Qeshm Island.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned what it called “aggressive” U.S. attacks over the weekend. It also said talks held Saturday in Muscat between Iran and Oman on managing the strait and transit routes failed to reach a result because of what Tehran described as “overt and covert” U.S. pressure on Oman.
The escalation leaves the future of the interim agreement uncertain, with both sides continuing military operations while the diplomatic track around Hormuz remains blocked.
