US military targets Iran, hitting Kish, Jam, Qeshm Islands, Bushehr, and Bandar Abbas. Iran retaliated against US installations in Kuwait. Trump announced a blockade on Iranian ports and imposed a fee for transit through the Hormuz Strait. UAE tankers were attacked.
US President Donald Trump stated in a post on Truth Social on Monday that the US military would reinstate its blockade on Iranian ports, declaring that Washington would assume the role of “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” and would charge a 20% fee on all cargo passing through the waterway to cover security measures. He emphasized that all nations except Iran would enjoy “fair and open access to the Strait,” noting that the US had taken decisive action against Iran after repeated violations of prior agreements. CENTCOM announced that the blockade would take effect Tuesday at 4 pm ET, preventing vessels from entering Iranian ports and coastal regions.
The UAE’s Defence Ministry reported that two of its tankers, the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, were struck by Iranian cruise missiles in the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, situated within Omani territorial waters, as per Reuters. One Indian crew member aboard the Mombasa lost their life, and eight others were injured, four of them critically. The ministry indicated that fires on both vessels had been contained. The UAE condemned the incident as a “blatant attack,” asserting its “full right to respond to this escalation.”
In other regional developments, Yemen’s Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa airport and claimed they retaliated with missiles aimed at the kingdom, while Saudi Arabia reported intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile, as indicated by CNN, seemingly putting an end to the de facto truce between the two. Israeli forces continued their assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, even as the European Commission and other nations initiated a $1bn initiative to finance aid and reconstruction efforts for Gaza.
Stay tuned for more updates from West Asia.
