CENTCOM finished a third round of strikes on 300 targets, but the IRGC continues to strike vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and claims they will continue to come until "the end of US interference in this region."
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price.”
CENTCOM maintains commercial ships are still moving through the waterway, but the IRGC continues to threaten vessels and U.S. allies over attempts to close the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange followed attacks on commercial vessels near Oman. Iran said it struck one ship that was traveling on an unapproved route and later disabled a second vessel.
India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the commercial vessel GFS Galaxy, while 10 other Indian crew members were rescued.
CENTCOM hit 140 Iranian military targets Saturday, bringing the total to more than 300 targets over three nights. The strikes were aimed at limiting Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships, officials said.
Iran responded by claiming attacks on military and support facilities in several Gulf states. Qatar said three people, including a child, were injured by falling shrapnel. Jordan reported minor damage but no casualties after three missiles landed on its territory, while Oman said drones targeted sites in Musandam.
Reuters contributed to this report.
U.S. Central Command said the Strait of Hormuz remains open Sunday, rejecting Iran’s claim that it can close or control the vital international waterway with threats and strikes.
"The Strait of Hormuz is open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transit the international waterway," CENTCOM wrote Sunday moring on X.
"U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to ensure that freedom of navigation remains available despite unwarranted Iranian aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations. Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing."
Oman summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest attacks on its territory, the country’s foreign ministry said Sunday morning.
The diplomatic protest comes after Oman reported that sites in its Musandam region were targeted by drones Sunday as Iran widened its retaliation across the Gulf.
The move is significant because Oman has served as a key mediator in efforts to contain the U.S.-Iran conflict and preserve maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
Oman’s protest adds to the regional backlash against Tehran after Iranian-linked strikes targeted or threatened sites in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the Gulf, while commercial shipping near Oman has also come under attack.
Reuters contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as a steadfast defender of the U.S.-Israel alliance, saying his support reflected the broader stakes of American leadership as the Iran war tests the region.
“It takes people like Lindsey Graham to keep that alliance going,” Netanyahu told Sunday's "Fox & Friends," calling Graham “clear,” “candid” and “encouraging.”
Netanyahu said Graham understood that America’s role in the world remains essential, arguing that without U.S. leadership, “there would be no liberty in the world.”
"Lindsey Graham had it right: He knew that, in fact, if the Middle East were to collapse, to fall into the hands of Iran, which is now trying, has tried to do that, or the fall of American enemies, your, energy costs would skyrocket and would never come down. You'd be under perpetual blackmail of these tyrannical terrorist regimes.
"They would develop nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them to every American city. He saw that as something that is not only economically strangling. It could actually it could actually extinguish your lives. So he was he talked about that with me many times. It wasn't something that he put out as a as a spin.
"He believed it. And you know what? He was absolutely right."
The Israeli leader cast the U.S.-Israel partnership as rooted in shared democratic values, individual rights and a commitment to human life.
He contrasted that alliance with Iran’s regime, saying Israel and the U.S. “stand for something else.”
“We’re the only democracy in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “We represent individual rights. We value every human life.”
Netanyahu said Graham’s backing was not just political but personal, adding that his encouragement “went right to my heart.”
Iraq’s prime minister is set to visit Washington on Monday as Baghdad looks to deepen ties with the United States and secure new oil and gas agreements amid the widening U.S.-Iran conflict.
"The agreements to be signed will include several memorandums of understanding in the oil and gas sector as Iraq prepares to bring in various U.S. companies that will provide momentum to increase oil production capacity," government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said.
Iraq is also seeking alternative export outlets to reduce its exposure to disruptions.
Like other Gulf producers, Iraq has been hit by lower oil revenue as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping route Iran claims it has closed during the war.
Al-Aboudi said strengthening Iraq’s armed forces will also be discussed in Washington.
The visit comes as Baghdad tries to balance its relations with neighboring Iran and the United States. U.S.-Iraq ties have been strained at times over the presence of American troops, Baghdad’s relationship with Tehran and U.S. pressure to curb Iran-backed armed groups.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said Sunday that the southern route through the Strait of Hormuz remains open, despite Iran’s proclamation that the key waterway is closed.
"The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway and is not subject to coercion orcontrol by any single nation," the advisory concluded with a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command statement. "Despite Iran’s claims that the Strait is closed, U.S. forces are prepared to maintain freedom of navigation and safeguard lawful commerce in accordance with international law.
"The southern route of the Strait remains open."
In a July 12 advisory, JMIC said the maritime security threat level in the strait remains "severe," but that the southern route is still available and has been expanded to handle two-way traffic.
The notice urged ship owners, operators and mariners to stay alert for VHF hailing from naval forces and to remain aware of a mine danger area in the traditional traffic separation scheme.
JMIC said vessels are strongly encouraged to coordinate with NAVCENT’s Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping office, known as NCAGS, for information on safe transit routes.
But the advisory stressed that coordination is not mandatory, ships may use the southern route without it, and there is no controlling authority or required fee for passage.
{{#rendered}}Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they targeted military sites across several Gulf states and Jordan, marking a sharp escalation in Tehran’s retaliation after recent U.S. strikes.
The Guards claimed they destroyed a command-and-control center and drone hangars in Jordan, targeted a U.S. radar site in Kuwait, attacked U.S. aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman, and destroyed a jet maintenance center and command facility in Qatar.
Qatar said three people, including a child, were injured by falling shrapnel.
Jordan’s state news agency said three missiles launched from Iranian territory landed in the country early Sunday, causing minor damage but no casualties.
Oman said sites in its Musandam region were targeted by drones, though it did not report whether there were casualties.
The United Arab Emirates said its defense systems engaged missiles and drones from Iran, while warning sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were heard in Doha.
The escalation also extended to maritime traffic. India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the commercial vessel GFS Galaxy off Oman’s coast. Ten other Indian crew members were rescued, according to India’s foreign ministry.
The strikes came after Tehran warned that any retaliation over the container ship incident would be met with a “severe response,” expanding the conflict’s reach across the Gulf and raising new concerns over regional security.
Reuters contributed to this report.
U.S. Central Command said it completed a third round of strikes against Iran on Saturday night, hitting about 140 military targets after what it described as another Iranian attack on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes used precision munitions launched from land- and sea-based fighter aircraft, drones and naval vessels, CENTCOM said.
The targets included missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks and coastal surveillance locations.
Over three nights, U.S. forces have struck more than 300 targets in Iran, according to CENTCOM, which said the campaign is aimed at weakening Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels moving through the strait.
CENTCOM said commercial traffic continues through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping corridor. Since early May, U.S. forces have helped facilitate the transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 400 million barrels of crude oil through the waterway.
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