The Iranian regime announced that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed again until further notice after striking a vessel attempting to move through an unapproved route on Saturday night.
In response, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it was conducting a round of strikes against Iranian targets.
"Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed," CENTCOM stated in a post on X/Twitter.
"In response, the United States is imposing a high cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief."
Axios reported that among the sites targeted were air surveillance radars, missile and drone storage, missile and drone launch sites, surface surveillance radars, and surface-to-air missile launchers.
Iranian state media announced that explosions were heard near Chabahar, on Qeshm Island, and in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Bushehr, and Asaluyeh.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied to CENTCOM's announcement, saying that "Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay."
CENTCOM also stated that a civilian crew member of the ship Iran struck was missing, and that the vessel had sustained significant damage.
An official announcement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Navy claimed that the ship had ignored warnings and had been "provoked by foreigners" into attempting to move along the unapproved route.
Iran's IRGC Navy added that if the "enemy" used the incident as a pretext to attack, it would be met with a "severe response," including the targeting of bases in the region.
The strait would remain closed, the IRGC stated, with no vessels allowed to pass through, until the end of US interference in the region.
A US official confirmed to Axios that a commercial cargo ship had been struck, after the US had previously demanded that Iran announce that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened to all vessels.
Later, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) announced that it received a report of an incident 9 nautical miles east of Oman.
Military authorities have reported a container ship sustained damage to the rear of the vessel, which has caused a fire onboard, it said.
The crew of the ship, UKMTO later said, had abandoned the vessel and evacuated in a lifeboat.
US says it struck 140 Iranian military targets
US forces completed a third round of strikes this week against Iran, the Central Command said late on Saturday in a post on X.
They hit approximately 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday, the Central Command said, and added that targets included Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communication networks, and coastal surveillance locations.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday it struck and disabled a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted the US strategic air base at Al Udeid in Qatar with ballistic missiles, destroying its fighter jet maintenance center and command and control facility.
US demands Iran stop attacking ships, open Strait of Hormuz
On Friday, senior US officials said that the United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes in the strait will be open to shipping with no tolls.
Iran has adamantly refused to give up control of the strait, the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil supply typically flows.
The officials said conversations between the two countries had been productive in recent days. They made the comments to a small group of reporters in a conference call.
"What we're demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open, and they're not shooting at ships anymore. They're either going to give us that statement, or we're not having a good outcome for them," one official said.