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U.S. launches strikes after Iran fires on civilian vessel in Strait of Hormuz

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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states The United States attacked Iran early Sunday morning over an Iranian attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
− launches strikes after Iran fires on civilian vessel Iran says it again considers the Strait of Hormuz closed after its military struck a ship using an "unauthorized route." In response, the U.S.
+ Iran apparently responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
− military announced a third round of strikes this week.
+ Middle East US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states July 11, 20269:32 PM ET By The Associated Press A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026.
− Middle East U.S.
+ Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States attacked Iran early Sunday morning over an Iranian strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that set the container ship ablaze and forced its crew to abandon it.
− launches strikes after Iran fires on civilian vessel in Strait of Hormuz July 11, 20269:32 PM ET By The Associated Press A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran, Saturday, July 11, 2026. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran said the Strait of Hormuz was closed once again after a warning shot fired by its military struck a vessel using an unauthorized route in the critical waterway, further jeopardizing the already tenuous ceasefire agreement with the United States.
+ Iran apparently responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
− U.S.
+ The strait has become the key sticking point in any further negotiations between Iran and the United States to find a permanent end to the war that began back on Feb.
− Central Command said a short time later that its forces began a third round of strikes against Iran.
+ 28.
− There were explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, two towns along the shores of the strait, Iran state media reported. "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," the American military said.A Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran and suffered "significant engineroom damage" and a civilian crew member is missing, U.S.
+ About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began.
− Central Command said.
+ Iran's grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
− Senior U.S.
+ The U.S.
− officials had previously said in Washington that negotiations to further cement last month's deal to end the war will be unable to progress without the strait being secure — and even said they wanted Iran to offer public statements to that effect.
+ military's Central Command said it hit some 140 targets in the strikes, far more than the last two round, and went after missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other sites.
− Instead, the Revolutionary Guards Corps 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 said it would consider targeting "additional enemy bases in the region" if it faced more attacks.
+ The attacks "degrade Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait," it said.
− A little more than an hour later, the U.S.
+ The new crossfire in the Persian Gulf comes days after U.S.
− announced its own new round of strikes.
+ President Donald Trump suggested an interim deal in the Iran war was "over." U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote online: "Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay." 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.
− "Iran made a poor choice.
+ Meanwhile, missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, an island kingdom in the Persian Gulf home to the U.S.
− Now they pay," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media.
+ Navy's 5th Fleet.
− The latest flurry of shots from both sides followed Iran and Oman's foreign ministers meeting on Saturday to discuss the strait that lies between them, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S.
+ It wasn't immediately clear what locations were under attack in the UAE, which so far hadn't been targeted in the latest round of attacks by Iran.
− retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.
+ The latest attack on the Emirates, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, came in May when a drone sparked a fire on the edge of the country's sole nuclear power plant.
− Iran's new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, also vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war's opening strikes on Feb.
+ In the Strait of Hormuz attack, a Cyprus-flagged container ship was hit by Iran and suffered "significant engineroom damage" and a civilian crew member is missing, U.S.
− 28.
+ Central Command said.
− Such revenge "is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out," Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on state television, hours after President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks. Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the Strait of Hormuz "at the technical and political levels." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said before the new round of strikes that he met with his counterpart in Oman to discuss "appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships." The world for decades has considered the strait an international waterway.
+ 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.
− Iran has insisted that the strait now remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, a stance it took after the war began.
+ That's been the way ships have gotten in and out of the Persian Gulf while avoiding Iranian territorial waters.
+ The ship's crew abandoned the vessel as it was ablaze, the center said. 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 said it would consider targeting "additional enemy bases in the region" if it faced more attacks.
The U.S.
− urges mariners to transit on a southern route through Oman's territorial waters. About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began.
+ attacks on Iran apparently targeted Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as other areas, along the shores of the strait, Iran state media reported.
− Iran's grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
+ Iran offered no immediate information about casualties or damage.
− Iran's top diplomat also accused the U.S.
+ The latest violence followed Iran and Oman's foreign ministers meeting on Saturday to discuss the strait, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S.
− of violating the interim deal by ending waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S.
+ retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.
− dollars. Washington ended them in response to the attacks on ships in the strait.
+ The narrow strait sits in both Iran and Oman's territorial waters, but long has been considered an international waterway.
− "Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance," Araghchi wrote on social media.
+ Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the Strait of Hormuz "at the technical and political levels." However, Iran offered no statement about the strait being open to all — something sought by the Trump administration.
− Trump said he's personally been the target of an Iranian plot, and he said the U.S.
+ Iran's new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, also vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war's opening strikes on Feb.
− military would automatically retaliate if he was killed.
+ 28.
− He wrote on social media early Saturday that "1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat." However, such retaliation would have to be ordered by Vice President JD Vance, who would become commander-in-chief if Trump were to be killed.
+ Such revenge "is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on state televisions.
− Trump said he was responding to threats "to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate" him. During Khamenei's funeral, mourners held posters or banners calling for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The U.S. president has declared the ceasefire over but said the U.S. would continue negotiations.
U.S. officials, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity about the current situation with Iran, said the resumption of strikes even before the latest round came as a result of what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners who were trying to sabotage the ceasefire. Iran has insisted its theocracy is unified under the new supreme leader. After the U.S. wrapped up strikes on Thursday, more attacks reportedly hit Iran, raising questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic. Israel didn't claim them, meaning the Gulf Arab states may have launched them, likely as a means to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday retaliated for U.S. strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.
− The strikes in Iran over two days — and prior to the ones in the wake of the warning shot — killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.
+ The strikes in Iran over two rounds of strikes last week killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.
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