Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to commercial shipping and warned vessels attempting to pass through the vital waterway could be targeted, as the United States carried out fresh military strikes on Iranian territory.
The announcement by Iranian state media on Thursday came amid renewed US attacks for the second consecutive day, triggering fears of a wider regional conflict and sharp volatility in global oil markets.
Tehran dismissed American assurances on maritime safety, insisting the strategic chokepoint — through which about one-fifth of global oil shipments pass daily — was no longer secure.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed intensified operations, saying President Donald Trump had authorised strikes on key Iranian facilities.
“President Trump said we will be hitting Iran hard – and we will be,” Hegseth told reporters.
He added that Tehran still had an opportunity to negotiate despite the escalation.
Explosions were reported in southern and central Iran shortly after Hegseth’s remarks. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed retaliatory strikes on 18 US-linked military sites across the region, including missile attacks on Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan and facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The latest exchanges mark one of the most serious escalations since a fragile truce in April, with both sides accusing each other of bad faith.
