The US insists the Strait of Hormuz is open, despite Iran saying it has closed the waterway amid renewed strikes.

📻 Breaking It Down

Hostilities, which flared up again this week, continued on Saturday after the US said it had struck more than 140 targets across Iran. The attacks were a response to Iranian forces hitting a ship passing through the strait, which it said was using an unapproved route.

Iran has been trying to assert control over the waterway, and early on Sunday said it was closed until further notice.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also launched wide-ranging attacks on US bases and allies across the region on Sunday, marking an escalation in the scale of hostilities.

📌 What You Need to Know

It said it had hit a US base in Jordan, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain all said they had responded to missiles and drones from Iran.

The BBC has approached US Central Command(Centcom) for comment on the attack in Jordan.

Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks, had not been attacked since April, while the UAE had not been attacked since May.

On Sunday evening, Centcom announced another round of strikes against Iran, which it said started at 17:00 ET (22:00 BST) and would “continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.

On Sunday afternoon, Iran’s IRNA news agency said missiles were launched by the “enemy” towards Qeshm Island – a strategically important island in the Gulf, home to an important IRGC base.

The renewed fire has put in jeopardy an interim ceasefire agreement signed last month, which aimed ​to reopen the Strait and eventually bring a permanent end to the conflict.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya