US strikes Iran after Hormuz ship attacks, oil licence revoked

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 8, 2026 08:48 IST

The US military launched strikes on targets in Iran early on Wednesday after Washington said Tehran had attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The US also revoked a licence that had allowed Iran to sell crude oil openly in the global market under an interim agreement, while Iran warned it would ‘take whatever measures it deems necessary’, raising fears that the arrangement halting the war could break down.

The latest escalation came as Iran was holding funeral ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in the opening moments of the war. Talks on a final deal had been expected after his burial, but the fresh attacks have cast doubt on that process. Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, sounded missile-alert sirens after the American strikes, underlining the risk of a wider regional conflict.

The funeral period had been seen as a possible phase of lower tension, though mourners have repeatedly called for the killings of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The post-burial negotiations were due to focus on fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X: ‘The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.’

US Central Command said American forces carried out the strikes ‘to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway’. It said the targets included Iranian air defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats used by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which have been central to harassment of ships in the strait. The command added that the US military remained ‘postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed’, and said this round of attacks had ended.

Iran acknowledged the strikes but gave no details of any losses. Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik. Iran’s central military command said it ‘will respond decisively to this aggression and terrorist act’. It added: ‘Under no circumstances will the Iranian armed forces allow interference in the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz, nor will they permit others to manage it.’ A similar cycle of Iranian attacks on shipping and US retaliatory strikes had taken place late last month, followed by Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. Wednesday’s strikes also came as Trump was in Turkey for a NATO summit.

Washington also withdrew a licence that had authorised the sale of Iranian oil under the interim deal. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was taken because Iran’s actions in the strait were unacceptable and had to carry consequences. The licence had allowed Iran, for the first time in years, to sell oil openly on the international market for US dollars. Iran has long been suspected of selling sanctioned crude at below-market prices to China.

The decision followed attacks on shipping. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said one tanker was struck off the coast of Oman and caught fire. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker had come under attack after ignoring warnings, but did not directly claim responsibility. The other two ships suffered some damage, but no one was injured and both continued through the Strait of Hormuz, the UK maritime agency said.

Iran has maintained a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz since the war, disrupting global energy markets, as in peacetime a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway. The ships attacked on Tuesday appeared to be using a route near Oman’s coast rather than one ordered by Tehran. Iran has repeatedly said only its approved route is safe and has been suspected of attacking other ships that used the Oman route. Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an ‘unacceptable attack’ on international navigation and global energy security, and said Qatar holds Iran ‘fully legally responsible’.

Under the interim deal, Iran and the US had agreed to let ships pass without charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it should control the vessels’ routes and later impose passage fees, a position the US and many Gulf Arab states have rejected.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities flew Khamenei’s body to the Shiite seminary city of Qom, where mourners gathered on Tuesday. State television showed hundreds of thousands of people walking towards Jamkaran Mosque for the funeral service. Khamenei’s son and Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared at the ceremonies, which began on Saturday in Tehran, and is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father. Khamenei’s body arrived late on Tuesday in Iraq, where officials from both countries received it. Processions are planned on Wednesday in Najaf and Karbala before he is returned to Iran for burial on Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

The strikes, the withdrawal of the oil-sale licence and the attacks on shipping have sharply raised tensions around the Strait of Hormuz at a time when Iran is mourning Khamenei and a broader settlement was meant to be negotiated after his burial.

With PTI Inputs

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