The latest US-Iran escalation began after Washington accused Tehran of attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a new cycle of strikes and retaliation, and stoking regional tension.
The confrontation has centred on the strategic waterway, where Iran's declaration that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz raised fears over global energy supplies, commercial shipping and a wider conflict.
- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel ignored warnings.
- The US accused Iran of attacking shipping, including a Cyprus-flagged vessel, and launched strikes on Iranian targets in its third such operation this week.
- Iranian media reported explosions near southern energy hubs, including Asaluyeh and Bushehr.
- Iran said it carried out retaliatory attacks on US assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
- The UAE said missile threats detected on Sunday remained outside its borders, while Qatar said three people, including a child, were injured by falling debris after its air defences intercepted Iranian missiles and drones.
- The US military's Central Command said its latest strikes hit about 140 Iranian targets, bringing the total number of targets struck in three rounds this week to more than 300.
- Iran's top negotiator, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the era of "one-sided deals" was over following the renewed US strikes.
- However, Centcom said commercial vessels were continuing to sail through the strait.
- The UK-led Joint Maritime Information Centre also said later that ships could still transit the Strait of Hormuz through a widened southern route, although it maintained the threat level at "severe" and warned of hostile contact from Iranian naval forces.
The bottom line
The confrontation has moved into a more dangerous phase, with Iran expanding attacks on Gulf states and commercial shipping while the US broadens its campaign against Iranian targets.
The immediate test is whether diplomacy can restore confidence in navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and prevent the crisis from further destabilising the region and global energy markets.
