Iran vows crushing response as CENTCOM says US hit over 80 targets
CENTCOM’s confirmation of more than 80 targets struck, including over 60 IRGC small boats, gives the market its clearest picture yet of the scale of this round, and it is considerably larger than earlier reporting on a fourfold or fivefold increase suggested in isolation. Iran’s insistence that only its own designated route through Hormuz is safe for tankers is the line that should worry shippers most, since it amounts to a direct claim of control over the waterway rather than a general threat, and any attempt to enforce it raises the risk of further attacks on vessels regardless of ceasefire status. Qalibaf’s rejection of the memorandum of understanding, citing the strikes, reinstated oil sanctions and continued Israeli action in Lebanon, suggests Tehran now views the truce as effectively void rather than merely strained, removing the diplomatic off ramp markets had been hoping would cap the escalation. With both sides publicly committed to further action, the risk premium in oil looks unlikely to unwind quickly.
—
Iran vows a crushing response and claims only its own route through Hormuz is safe for tankers, after CENTCOM says US forces struck over 80 Iranian targets including 60-plus IRGC boats.
Summary:
- Iran’s top joint military command said Iranian armed forces will deliver a crushing response after accusing the US military of targeting parts of southern Iran
- Iran’s military command said it will not allow US interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz and that the only safe route for ships is the one set by Iran
- CENTCOM said US forces completed a new round of strikes on 7 July, hitting more than 80 targets with precision munitions in response to Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels in the strait
- CENTCOM said the strikes hit Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 IRGC small boats
- CENTCOM named the three vessels struck by Iran as the Marshall Islands-flagged Al Rekayyat, the Saudi-flagged Wedyan and the Liberian-flagged Cyprus Prosperity
- Iran’s top negotiator Qalibaf said the US has committed major violations of the ceasefire memorandum of understanding, citing the strikes, reinstated oil sanctions and threats of further action
- Qalibaf also cited continued Israeli aggression in Lebanon as a violation of the agreement and said the era of bullying and extortion is over
Iran’s top military command vowed a crushing response to US strikes on Wednesday, as competing accounts from Tehran and Washington laid out the scale of an escalation that appears to have pushed the two countries’ ceasefire to the point of collapse.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said Iranian armed forces would deliver what it called a crushing response after accusing the US military of targeting parts of southern Iran in what it described as a blatant act of aggression. The command also said Tehran would not allow US interference in the management of the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that the only safe passage for commercial vessels and oil tankers through the waterway is the route determined by Iran.
The US account of the strikes, provided by Central Command, described a far larger operation than earlier reports had suggested. CENTCOM said US forces completed a new round of offensive strikes on Tuesday, hitting more than 80 targets with precision munitions in immediate response to Iran’s latest attacks on commercial shipping in the strait. According to the statement, the strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities and more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats operating in and near the waterway, aimed at degrading Iran’s ability to continue attacking vessels transiting the corridor.
CENTCOM identified the three commercial vessels struck by Iran as the Marshall Islands-flagged M/T Al Rekayyat, the Saudi Arabia-flagged M/T Wedyan and the Liberian-flagged M/T Cyprus Prosperity, describing the attacks as an unwarranted and dangerous violation of the ceasefire that undermines freedom of navigation. The command said its forces remain postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable if the agreement continues to be disregarded.
Iran’s top negotiator, Qalibaf, rejected the US framing entirely, saying in a post that Washington has committed major violations of the memorandum of understanding that ended the earlier war. He cited the US attacks on southern Iran, the reinstatement of oil sanctions and threats of further strikes as evidence of those violations, and also pointed to continued Israeli military action in Lebanon as a separate breach of the agreement. Qalibaf said the US had violated what he called Iranian adjustments in the Strait of Hormuz, and declared that the era of bullying and extortion is over, adding that Iran does not fold.
The dueling narratives, with Washington casting its strikes as a proportionate response to attacks on shipping and Tehran casting the same strikes as a fundamental breach of the truce, leave little visible path back to the ceasefire that had held since the earlier conflict. With both sides signaling further action rather than restraint, and Iran explicitly asserting control over navigation through one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints, the coming days are likely to prove decisive for whether the agreement survives in any meaningful form.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.