Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed to all vessels” after fresh US strikes on Iran, warning that any ship attempting to pass through the key waterway could be targeted, news agency ANI reported citing CNN.
The announcement marks a sharp escalation in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran, coming after President Donald Trump warned of renewed attacks, US Central Command confirmed additional strikes on Iranian targets, and emergency services across Iran were placed on high alert amid reports of explosions in several cities.
How the US-Iran escalation unfolded
The latest phase of tensions followed Trump’s remarks at the White House, where he said the United States would resume attacks on Iran and accused Tehran of delaying a deal with Washington.
“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
He suggested that Iran’s downing of a US Apache helicopter had given Washington grounds for further military action. “Based on the helicopter, I guess we have the right to do that,” he told reporters.
Trump said the US had already carried out strikes and would continue military operations while talks remained uncertain. “We hit them hard yesterday. We’re going to hit them again hard today, in case you miss it, in case you don’t turn on your television set, and we’ll see what happens with the deal,” he said.
He also warned against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, claiming that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten Israel and destabilise the Middle East.
“If they had a nuclear weapon, there’d be no Israel, there’d be no Middle East, and they would have absolutely shot at us,” Trump said.
CENTCOM says fresh strikes were launched at Trump’s direction
Soon after Trump’s warning, US Central Command said its forces had begun launching additional self-defence strikes against multiple targets in Iran.
In a post on X, CENTCOM said, “U.S. Central Command forces began launching additional self-defence strikes today at 5:15 p.m. ET against multiple targets in Iran at the Commander in Chief’s direction. The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, speaking outside US CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, said the command would be “busy” as Trump had directed a hard line against Iran.
“Central Command will be busy tonight because President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard, and we will be, because Iran has a chance to make a good deal, a great deal, to codify what they said they’ve been willing to do and they haven’t been willing to do it,” Hegseth said.
He added, “Instead, they’re going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the United States of America.”
According to IANS, CENTCOM had also announced earlier that US forces disabled another tanker attempting to transport Iranian oil in violation of an American-led blockade. The report said a US aircraft fired precision munitions into the engine room of the Palau-flagged tanker M/T Settebello after its crew repeatedly failed to comply with instructions.
Explosions reported in Iranian cities
As US strikes continued, Iran’s Red Crescent placed all emergency operations centres across the country on full alert, according to Al Jazeera.
Citing Iran’s Mehr news agency, Al Jazeera reported fresh explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, saying the blasts were linked to an incident in the eastern part of the city.
Additional explosions were reported in Sirik, Minab, Qeshm Island and the northern city of Gorgan. Air defence systems were activated in western Tehran, while an explosion was also heard in Fars province in southwest Iran, which Iranian media attributed to the activation of air defence systems outside the city.
According to Press TV, two residents of Kargan in Minab County were injured by shrapnel following a US strike.
Iran declares Strait of Hormuz closed
Against this backdrop, the IRGC declared that the Strait of Hormuz was closed to all vessels.
“Effective immediately, due to insecurity in the region, the Strait of Hormuz is declared closed to all vessels, including oil tankers and commercial ships,” the IRGC said in a post on its official Telegram channel, ANI reported citing CNN.
“Any vessel attempting to transit the strait will be targeted,” the statement added.
Al Jazeera, citing Iranian media, reported heavy clashes and an exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz between US forces and naval units of Iran’s IRGC.
US forces were said to have struck seven coastal locations so far, with attacks reported in and around Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Qeshm Island and Hengam Island. The IRGC Navy said two vessels attempting to “illegally” transit the Strait of Hormuz had been struck.
US says it controls the Strait of Hormuz
Even as Iran announced the closure, Washington claimed that it had ensured the continued movement of oil and commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said on Truth Social that he had directed the US military last month to execute a secret mission to support oil tankers and commercial ships through the waterway.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that this effort has resulted in more than 100 MILLION Barrels of Oil making its way through the Strait, and into the Open Market,” Trump wrote.
He also claimed that more than 200 commercial ships had safely travelled through the Strait.
“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES of AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran. Their military is defeated, and their economy is lost. It’s over for Iran!” Trump said.
Hegseth echoed that claim, saying “Project Freedom” had continued and that US operations had protected commercial shipping through the Strait.
“The United States of America controls the Strait of Hormuz. We’re able to move oil in and out and other things with partners and have done so now for weeks and weeks in ways the Iranians don’t want to acknowledge,” he said.
Hegseth also said the US blockade had stopped almost 140 ships attempting to navigate in or out of Iranian ports and claimed another tanker had been disabled a day earlier.
He said the Apache pilots involved in the incident cited by Trump were in “good shape” and praised their performance in a “contested environment”.
Iran-linked strike claim emerges from Iraq
According to Press TV, Iraqi media reports claimed that Iran launched a missile strike targeting the US Al-Harir air base in Erbil, allegedly destroying a US radar system in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The claim came as the confrontation appeared to widen beyond Iranian territory, with Washington signalling more strikes and Tehran warning against movement through one of the world’s most sensitive maritime routes.
Trump says Iran deal is fully negotiated
Despite the military escalation, Trump said the United States still wanted a “meaningful” and “effective” deal with Iran.
“We have the strongest military in the world. And I gave them a break at the request of Pakistan… We stopped them from going to war with India. You would have had a nuclear war if it weren’t for me. But they became friendly to me. They’re close to Iran, and they work, and they still are working on trying to get them to do what’s right. But we want a deal that’s meaningful. We want a deal that works,” Trump said on Wednesday (local time).
He claimed Washington and Tehran had been close to an agreement, but accused Iran of delaying the process.
“We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along. They keep playing us for suckers,” Trump said.
“All they have to do is they have to start signing a paper. It’s fully negotiated,” he added.