Early Tuesday morning, Iranian media reported explosions at several locations on the country’s southern coast after the U.S. launched another attack against Iranian targets. Explosions were reported near the port city of Bushehr, on Kesm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, and in Bandar Abbas in the south, AFP reports.
Donald Trump had previously announced that attacks would be launched against Iran. In a radio interview on Monday, the U.S. president stated that the military would launch heavy strikes late that evening and again on Tuesday. The president also formally notified Congress that the country is at war with Iran.
According to the Iranian Fars and Tasnim news agencies, the U.S. strikes killed two people on Monday in southwestern Iran in an oil-producing region near Kuwait and Iraq.
Iran declared on Sunday that the strait had been closed, after having opened it to shipping during negotiations with the U.S. seeking a final deal to permanently end the war.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it had attacked several facilities in Bahrain, including a building housing U.S. forces, according to a statement broadcast by state television on Tuesday morning.
The United Arab Emirates reported on Tuesday that Iranian missiles had attacked two of its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one crew member. Oil tankers Mombasa and Al-Bahiyah were targeted by two Iranian cruise missiles while passing the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters.
Jordan’s army said Tuesday it had shot down four missiles from Iran. “Four missiles intercepted and shot down after entering Jordanian airspace from Iranian territory,” the army said.
Due to the fighting, oil prices jumped again; the key West Texas Intermediate and Brent North Sea Crude contracts both rose about 2.5% to $80.15 and $85.37 a barrel, respectively.
China called on the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday to restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. “Restoring normal and safe passage through the strait as soon as possible is a shared aspiration of the international community,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news briefing, adding that Beijing would “make unremitting efforts to help de-escalate” the crisis.
