An Iranian-occupied UAE island in the Arabian Gulf was hit by US strikes on Wednesday during a 90-minute wave of attacks.
The US military's Central Command said Greater Tunb island was home to Iranian missile launch sites. The island is one of three, along with Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, occupied by Iran since 1971.
The bombing took place on the fifth day of US strikes against Iran, which have effectively ended the ceasefire. Iranian forces announced attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, maintaining a campaign of retaliation against countries hosting American forces.
The US also announced it had turned around the first two commercial ships trying to "run the blockade" reimposed this week by President Donald Trump. The renewed conflict has made the Strait of Hormuz too dangerous for commercial vessels to cross, the UN's shipping agency warned.
In more than 300 strikes in the past week, the US military has repeatedly hit coastal areas, fishing piers and military infrastructure stretching along the shoreline of the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The Pentagon's stated aim is to stop Iran attacking shipping in the strait.
The US campaign intensified on Wednesday with a 90-minute wave of strikes during which Greater Tunb was hit. US Central Command said "precision munitions" were fired at Iranian defence systems and missile storage and launch sites.
The strikes, which took place during the afternoon, "further degraded Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz", the US military said.
They followed a further exchange of fire overnight. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it carried out a new wave of missile and drone strikes against US military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. The Iranian army said it also attacked US forces in Jordan.
In the latest strikes, Washington appears to be systematically attacking one of the IRGC's most effective military assets: its fleet of heavily armed fast-attack boats. Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said it would not abide by June's interim peace deal as long as the US failed to do so.
Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran's armed forces had demonstrated that any attack would be met with a reciprocal response. "We have no plans for negotiations at the moment and are focused on defence," he said.
"The memorandum of understanding is a set of mutual obligations, and in the event of a violation by the other party, we will also refrain from implementing our obligations," he added.
US Central Command said two ships had been "redirected" in the first 17 hours of the new blockade. During the previous two-month blockade, at least nine ships were attacked and more than 100 turned around as US forces blocked Iranian ports.
Mr Trump had also announced this week that the US would claim a 20 per cent "reimbursement" on cargo ships crossing the strait under American protection. But he appeared to scrap that plan a day later, saying deals would instead be made for Gulf countries to invest in the US economy.
Oil prices fell back on Wednesday, after settling on Tuesday at a new one-month high. Iran has been trying to assert permanent control over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and to impose fees on vessels passing through it, in what would be a major shift of the balance of power in the region.
The IRGC said on Wednesday the strait would stay closed until what it described as "the end of America's evils". Shipping data showed an uptick in Iran-linked ships passing through the strait before the new US blockade took effect.
Mr Trump, who faces domestic pressure to avoid a full return to war, on Tuesday threatened to hit Iranian power plants and bridges next week unless Tehran resumes negotiations. "I'll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we'll hit energy targets," he said.
U.S. negotiators had been in touch with their Iranian counterparts to tell them "you better make a deal," Trump added.
