US attacks Iran over ship hit

US attacks Iran over ship hit in Strait of Hormuz

The United States launched strikes against Iran early Sunday morning in response to an Iranian attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The attack set the ship ablaze and forced its crew to abandon it. According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes targeted roughly 140 targets across Iran, including missile and drone launch sites, ammunition depots, communications equipment, and other military infrastructure.

The operation was intended to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the strategic waterway. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote online, Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay, after the operation.

Iran appeared to respond to the U.S. Strikes by launching missile and drone attacks toward Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar said its military intercepted incoming fire, while missile alerts sounded across several Gulf states hosting U.S. Military facilities.

In the initial attack, a Cyprus-flagged container ship suffered significant engine room damage, and a civilian crew member was reported missing, according to U.S. Officials. The ship's crew abandoned the vessel after it caught fire. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, overseen by the British military, said the ship had been traveling in a route hugging the shoreline of Oman, which has been the way ships have gotten in and out of the Persian Gulf while avoiding Iranian territorial waters.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said multiple vessels disregarded our warnings and instructions to correct their course and proceed along the approved route. One of them was struck by a warning shot and brought to a stop. Iran said that the strait would remain closed until further notice and threatened additional attacks if it faced further military action from the United States and its regional allies.

The new crossfire in the Persian Gulf comes after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested an interim deal and ceasefire in the Iran war was over. The U.S. Military's Central Command said it hit some 140 targets in the strikes, far more than the last two rounds, and went after missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment, and other sites.

The attacks degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait, according to the U.S. Military's Central Command. The United Arab Emirates warned the public Sunday of an incoming missile and drone attack as explosions could be heard in nearby Qatar. A missile alert sounded in Qatar shortly after the blasts. Qatar's military said in a statement it intercepted the incoming Iranian fire.

Meanwhile, missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.