US Launches Strikes on Iran After Attacks on Commercial Vessels

U.S. Central Command said Tuesday it has begun launching a series of strikes against Iran after it attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The military said the operation is intended to impose “heavy costs” on Iran for what it described as attacks on commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in international waters.

U.S. Central Command said Iran’s actions were “unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”

Iran’s state-owned international news network reported an “informed source” has warned the United States against any “provocative action” in the Strait of Hormuz and that “any such act” would “be met with an immediate and decisive response.”

PressTV reported that the source stressed that traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz is being conducted “strictly in accordance with Iran’s arrangements.” The warning comes amid tensions following reports that several vessels transiting the strait without complying with Iran’s designated navigation procedures have been struck in recent days.

Iran’s state-owned news agency said Iran has “maintained restrictions on navigation in the Strait” since the war began on Feb. 28.

After Iran attacked multiple tankers, the United States revoked its authorization for Iran to sell oil, according to a U.S. official.

The official told The Epoch Times on Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the financial enforcement and sanctions arm of the agency, is revoking a license that allowed Tehran to produce, sell, and deliver oil under a memorandum of understanding that was signed by Iran and the United States in mid-June to end hostilities.

“The Office of Foreign Assets Control is revoking GL X, which authorized the sale of Iranian oil,” the official said. “As President Trump and the administration have repeatedly affirmed, the memorandum in effect with Iran is entirely performance-based.”

President Donald Trump was in Turkey on July 7 when he said he had been “testing” NATO allies to see whether they would support the United States during its war with Iran.

Trump said the United States did not need help but wanted to know whether allies would stand with Washington. He criticized several NATO members for declining to support the operation and questioned why the United States spends hundreds of billions of dollars on NATO if allies are “not there for us.”

The United States and Iran have been under a fragile ceasefire since April.