Missile alert sirens in Bahrain amid US-Iran standoff over Strait of Hormuz

The US launched fresh strikes on Iran after an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated against regional countries hosting US forces, escalating tensions, threatening maritime security, and raising fears of renewed conflict despite ongoing ceasefire and mediation efforts

Dubai: The United States launched several waves of strikes on Iran into Monday morning over an Iranian attack on a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz that set it ablaze and left a crew member missing over the weekend. Iran retaliated by targeting countries across the Middle East.

Missile alert sirens sounded at dawn Monday in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. There was no immediate word on damage.

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Iranian state media acknowledged the latest attacks on its soil early Monday, describing explosions in several locations with at least one person being killed.

Iranian attacks on Sunday stretched Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and even Oman – whose territorial waters with Iran make up the strait. The narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, which once saw a fifth of all oil and natural gas pass through it, has become the key issue challenging an interim deal between the US and Iran.

Iran and the US are nearly at the midway point of the 60-day period of that deal, which was supposed to set up talks for a permanent end to the war. Instead, it has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait and its future, worrying world leaders the Iran war could resume.

“A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

Fighting focuses on the status of the strait

The US military earlier Sunday said it hit some 140 targets, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other sites – a far-heavier set of attacks than in two previous rounds of strikes in the last week.

“We bombed the hell out of them last night,” President Donald Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Iran retaliated by attacking nations in the region hosting US military forces, while insisting it alone must control the strait and potentially charge vessels for travelling through it.

“The era of one-sided deals is OVER,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament and a main negotiator, wrote. “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.” Iran described the strait as being closed, while the US military and Trump asserted that the strait remained open. Iran, since the war began back on February 28 with the killing of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has used attacks on vessels in the region to intimidate shippers into not travelling through the waterway.

Iran’s chokehold on the strait, however, has loosened as the US military provided support to vessels moving along a southern route hugging the coastline of Oman. That new route has angered Iran, which launched repeated attacks on ships using it.

Iran’s grip on the strait led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of USD 120 a barrel.

Attacks followed more diplomatic talks about the strait

Trump suggested last week that the interim deal in the war was “over.” But mediators, including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt, have continued efforts to reach a final agreement to end the war.

A regional official involved in mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss talks, said efforts to shore up the ceasefire continued Sunday. Pakistan said its foreign minister spoke by phone with Iran’s top diplomat and urged “de-escalation” on both sides.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, unseen since the war began, on Saturday vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing.