U.S. Strikes Iran and Reimposes Oil Sanctions After Tanker Attacks in Hormuz, Breaking the June Ceasefire

The United States military launched direct strikes on Iran, an escalation that ends the fragile ceasefire the two governments reached in June. United States Central Command said it began a "series of powerful strikes" and later reported it had hit more than 80 targets, including air defenses, coastal surveillance sites, surface-to-air missile batteries, anti-ship cruise missile sites, drone launch sites and port facilities, NBC News reported. Central Command said the strikes were meant to impose "heavy costs" for attacks on commercial shipping and called Iran's actions "a clear violation of the ceasefire." Iranian state media and multiple outlets reported explosions in the port city of Sirik, on Qeshm Island and at Bandar Abbas, with state media also citing blasts on Kharg Island, a hub for Iran's oil exports, according to Al Jazeera.

The strikes followed a sequence of attacks on shipping. Three tankers were struck by projectiles on Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, CBS News reported. One vessel, the Qatari liquefied natural gas carrier Al-Rekayyat, was hit about eight nautical miles east of Limah, Oman, and caught fire, Bloomberg reported, citing the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Saudi Arabia condemned an Iranian strike on one of its tankers, the Wedyan, as it transited the strait. Iranian state television, citing anonymous sources, implied that Tehran had carried out at least one of the attacks, though the government issued no official claim, the Associated Press reported.

Washington paired the strikes with economic pressure. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control revoked the June license that had authorized Iran to produce, sell and deliver crude oil through August 21, Bloomberg reported, reversing one of the central concessions that had reopened the strait, CNN reported. Iran's foreign ministry said the United States had repeatedly violated the memorandum of understanding that underpinned the truce and warned it would "take decisive measures to protect its interests and national security," according to Al Jazeera. A United States official earlier called Iran's actions in the strait "wholly unacceptable," Axios reported.

The market response was contained compared with the sharp after-hours move that followed the initial tanker attacks. West Texas Intermediate rose about 2.9 percent to $72.46 a barrel and Brent rose about 2.8 percent to $76.18, CNBC reported, while broader equity markets showed little movement. The strait carries roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil, and prices reflect uncertainty over whether it stays open. The escalation also comes during a leadership transition in Iran, which began several days of funeral ceremonies for its late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the city of Qom, according to The Hindu. Whether the risk premium in oil widens now depends on whether Iran follows through on its warning, whether the strait remains navigable, and whether the fighting stays limited to the strikes carried out so far.