Middle East Tensions Flare Up As IRGC Shuts Strait Of Hormuz

Hostilities in the strife-torn Middle East are being reignited. The US forces launched a third wave of attacks on Iran near the contentious Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. The US strikes followed a missile attack on a commercial cargo ship by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite military unit of Iran.

Iran responded with a swarm of drones and missiles targeting Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan, dragging the region back into an escalating conflict after a shaky ceasefire brokered in June.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) brokered by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar in June is now in limbo.

The attacks also happened after Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi held parleys in Muscat on Saturday to discuss the crisis over the Strait of Hormuz.

The US has demanded a public acknowledgement from Iran that it will ensure safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a contentious waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies passed before the conflict erupted late in February.

The Trump administration had reportedly given a Saturday deadline for Iran to come out with this gesture. Washington sought this Iranian commitment on Saturday after the talks between Araghchi and the Omani Foreign Minister as a condition to end its strikes.

Tehran not only did not budge but responded with a strike on a a Cyprus-flagged commercial cargo ship. Further hardening its stance, the IRGC declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed until further notice.”

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the commercial vessel suffered engine room damage, fire broke out onboard and that a crew member was reportedly missing.

The US retaliatory strikes targeted Iranian radar installations, missile and drone storage facilities and launch sites, according to a US official.

According to the CENTCOM’s claims, the US forces struck 140 Iranian military targets.

“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,” CENTCOM said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X tagging the CENTCOM, that “Iran made a poor choice” and “now they pay.”

The hardline IRGC said it had repeatedly warned vessels not to navigate through a route not authorized by it. It claims it fird a warning shot.

“Following this incident … the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of the American interventions in this area, and no vessels will be allowed to pass through it,” the IRGC said in a statement.

Axios reported that Oman has proposed reopening Hormuz Strait in Saturday’s talks. It mooted the idea that the southern route, which falls in Omani territorial waters, could be open for shipping traffic.

Under the proposal, the southern route through Omani waters would reopen without any requirement for prior approval, restoring the rules that were in place before the war, the diplomat said. Iran’s negotiators have reportedly sought approval for this proposal from Tehran. The Axios report said the Cyprus-flagged commercial vessel was passing through the Omani waters. Tehran has reportedly termed the strikes as a course-correction move for taking an “unauthorised” route.

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran has been told “in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”.

The development has marred the chances of the Middle East peace talks, according to reports, as the US has unleashed fresh strikes.

The US CENTCOM also indicated a hardening of stance.

In a post on X it said, Tehran was given another opportunity to adhere to the June memorandum of understanding. The Middle East peace negotiations are now on the verge of collapse, despite the efforts of mediators friendly with Iran and Washington.