President Donald Trump on Sunday declared the Strait of Hormuz open, asserting that the United States hit 140 targets in Iran in response to recent attacks on cargo ships in the vital oil shipping lane. Trump reiterated the U.S. Central Command's position that Iran does not control the strait.
"Yeah, it’s open. We bombed the hell out of them last night," Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” His remarks followed an overnight bombing campaign by the U.S. targeting Iranian missile and drone sites, naval assets, ammunition storage, communication networks, and surveillance locations.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy had attacked the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy and declared the waterway, which previously handled 20% of the world's oil, closed. Trump claimed that negotiations had resolved the issue, stating that Iran had agreed to a deal and then launched the drone attack. "They gave up everything, and then after that, they left the room, and then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship," he said.
In response to the American airstrikes, Iran claimed to have launched widespread assaults against American facilities across the Middle East. According to the IRGS, these included attacks on a command-and-control center and drone hangars in Jordan, a radar site in Kuwait, aircraft carrier support and refueling platforms in Oman, and a jet maintenance center and command base in Qatar. Additional attacks and missile interceptions were reported in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Qatar, which has previously mediated between the U.S. and Iran, reported that an assault left three people injured, including a child. Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, stated that the attacks would continue if the U.S. persisted in challenging Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz. "The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking," Ghalibaf wrote on X.