Mideast Live Updates: Iran Vows ‘Crushing Response’ to U.S. Strikes
Iran’s military on Wednesday vowed to retaliate after the United States carried out airstrikes against several targets in Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales, in response to what the Pentagon said were Iranian attacks on three commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the Iranian military, called the U.S. strikes in Iran’s south an “overt act of aggression” and warned that Iran would “deliver a crushing response.”
“The only safe corridor for the passage of commercial vessels and oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz is the route designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it said in remarks carried on Iranian state media.
U.S. Central Command had earlier said on social media that it had hit more than 80 targets in Iran, including air defense systems, command and control networks and anti-ship missile capabilities.
The U.S. military said it had also targeted more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats in and near the strait “to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor.”
Tehran has not claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks on commercial ships, including a Saudi oil tanker and a Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier in waters off the coast of Oman. The hostilities threatened to disrupt the resumption of energy supplies from the region and derail the preliminary accord between Washington and Tehran to reopen the strategic waterway.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator and the speaker of its Parliament, accused the United States of major violations of that memorandum of understanding. “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold,” he wrote on social media.
Negotiations between Iran and the United States have been paused until after the dayslong funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
Here’s what else to know:
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Iran Sanctions: The Trump administration on Tuesday revoked a waiver allowing the sale of Iranian oil after the ship attacks. The sanctions exemption was a major concession in the temporary cease-fire reached last month. Read more ›
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Khamenei’s Funeral: The body of the slain supreme leader was taken to Qom, the center of Shiite religious education in Iran, for official prayers and a street procession, after three days of public mourning in Tehran. Read more ›
