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 U.S. Special Series Middle East conflict Conflict in the Middle East has been escalating. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them. By NPR Staff A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran on Saturday. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption The U.S. The U.S. "It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night," he told NBC's Meet the Press. He said that Tehran had agreed to "a perfect deal for us" in negotiations on Saturday, without giving details. "No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything," he said. "And then after that, they left the room. And then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship." NPR wasn't immediately able to confirm any details of a deal. Iran said on Sunday it responded to the American strikes with fire toward Jordan and other Gulf states. The United Arab Emirates and Qatari officials later reported intercepting incoming missile attacks. Kuwait's Ministry of Defense said border posts and an offshore drilling platform were hit, state media reported. U.S. Central Command said it launched a fresh round of strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. U.S. Central Command said the Iranian shots led to one civilian crew member going missing and the vessel abandoning its journey, thanks to an "onboard fire and significant engine room damage." Hours after the commercial ship was hit, Central Command announced on X that it hit about 140 military targets in a third round of strikes to hold "Iranian forces accountable for its attack on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz." The latest round of strikes started Wednesday, when the U.S. military fired at Iranian targets after three merchant ships were hit in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has urged ships to use a southern route through the strait that hugs the coast of Oman. Iran has said this violates the memorandum of understanding signed last month between Iran and the United States. In turn, the U.S. has also accused Iran of breaching the memorandum. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority, a new government agency Iran created to collect tolls and coordinate transit through the strait, posted on X early on Sunday that "passage through the Strait of Hormuz is currently not possible," blaming the U.S. military. U.S. Central Command also disputed the closure. The strait "remains an international waterway. U.S. forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way," it posted on X. A pro-government demonstrator waves an Iranian flag in a gathering commemorating the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a square in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption On Saturday, Iran had wrapped up talks with Oman on how to manage the strait. A day later, the sultanate's news agency reported Iranian drones had struck some sites in Oman. In response to the latest hostilities, regional mediators in Pakistan and Oman urged diplomacy. Posting on social media on Sunday, Pakistan's deputy foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said he had told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that "dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving disputes." But top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X: "The era of one-sided deals is OVER" and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later said it had again fired on a ship trying to get through the strait. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "deeply concerned by the serious escalation and renewed military confrontations in the Gulf," including attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. attacks on Iran, and Iran's targeting of neighboring countries. "These attacks must all stop," he said in a statement on Sunday, warning that "a return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences." Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to Guterres in a post on X saying: "This is not a 'military confrontation.' It is the continuation of a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression initiated on 28 February by the United States and Israel." Middle East Dayslong funeral for slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei begins in Tehran The Iranian strikes follow a defiant message from new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who delivered an address after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in February. "We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers," the new ayatollah was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, with tensions high in the region, California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna raised concerns when he said he was threatened by armed Israeli settlers during a recent visit to the occupied West Bank. Khanna said Israeli soldiers aided the settlers and blocked him from leaving. Posting on social media after returning to the U.S., Khanna condemned what he saw on a visit to the West Bank, including attacks on Palestinians and their villages by Israeli settlers. Middle East conflict In a West Bank cave, Israelis and Palestinians hold an out-of-the-ordinary lunch In a statement, Israel's military told NPR that soldiers did not block the congressman's exit. According to the United Nations, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the past two years due to Israeli military action and settler violence. Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor