The United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday evening, as confirmed by the US regional military command Centcom.
At 10 p.m. Swedish time, the American naval blockade of Iranian ports was also resumed.
"There are currently more than 20 U.S. Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating throughout the Middle East. U.S. forces remain alert, lethal, and ready," Centcom wrote on X.
Projectiles shot down
Iranian state-controlled media reported on Tuesday about explosions in several parts of the country, including Bushehr on the Persian Gulf and Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday evening, there were also reports of explosions on the Iranian island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz, the AFP news agency reports. At around the same time, the Kuwaiti military said incoming projectiles had been shot down by the country's air defenses.
Iran has also responded by targeting Bahrain and Jordan - where the US has military bases - as well as ships in the waters around the strait.
The chemical tanker Stolt Magnesium, belonging to the Norwegian-Luxembourg shipping company Stolt-Nielsen, was hit by a projectile while sailing in the Arabian Sea off Oman during Tuesday night. The explosion caused a fire in the engine room, writes Finansavisen. None of the crew were injured.
The focus remains on securing the ship and the cargo, says Cor Radings, spokesperson for the shipping company, to the business newspaper.
“Repeated warnings”
Two Emirati tankers were also reportedly attacked in Omani territorial waters. One person was reportedly killed and eight people were injured, the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Defense wrote on X. Later, the UN's maritime organization IMO announced that the death toll had risen to two people.
"We are deeply concerned about the recent attacks on shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz," the IMO wrote in a statement according to AFP.
According to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the ships ignored "repeated warnings."
"They chose to pass through a minefield and were subsequently attacked and put out of action," a statement read, according to the AP.
