The United States on Wednesday launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran, further escalating the conflict between the two countries.The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said the strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s military capabilities.“At 6 am ET today, US Central Command forces began launching a wave of strikes against Iran. The strikes are designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.The latest strikes began at around 3:30 pm IST, hours after CENTCOM announced it had completed another round of attacks on Iranian targets.“CENTCOM completed an additional round of strikes against Iran at 10 pm ET, hitting dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian coastal areas. US fighter aircraft, drones, and naval vessels launched precision munitions against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defence systems during the seven-hour wave to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews,” the military command posted on X announcing the earlier strikes.Referring to the earlier attacks, CENTCOM noted: “US forces resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas.”The Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s crude oil passes, has been under a virtual Iranian blockade since early March after Tehran moved to retaliate against US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East conflict on February 28.The latest escalation began last week when three civilian oil tankers came under attack in the strait, with Washington blaming Iran. CENTCOM responded with strikes on Iranian targets, prompting retaliatory attacks from Tehran.Although Washington and Tehran signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 17 to end the conflict, the agreement has come under increasing strain in recent days.
