US launches strikes on Iran after tankers hit in Strait of Hormuz

BBC - The US has launched "powerful" strikes on Iran in response to attacks on three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) said on Tuesday it had hit over 80 targets, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats in the strait.

Iran's deputy foreign minister called the US attacks a violation of the US-Iran memorandum signed last month, and warned that Tehran would "take decisive measures".

Iranian state media said strikes hit Qeshm island, Bandar Abbas and Sirik, where people have been injured by shrapnel. Iran has not directly claimed responsibility for the attacks on the three tankers that led to the US launching strikes.

Centcom said in addition to the 60 small boats, it had struck Iranian missile launch sites and command centres. It did not give locations of its targets.

The US had said there would be consequences to what it has called the "wholly unacceptable" attacks on the three tankers.

Centcom said the US strikes were "to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent individuals in an international waterway".

Before the strikes, the US Treasury revoked a waiver that had temporarily lifted oil sanctions on Iran, and was part of the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran last month.

Iran's foreign ministry called the move a breach of the memorandum and said it proved the "bad faith, inconsistency, and unreliability" of the US government.

It added that Tehran "will take whatever measures it considers necessary to safeguard its national interests and national security".

Qatar and Saudi Arabia also denounced the attacks, each saying a tanker from its country had been hit while transiting in or near the strait, and blaming Iran.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said it held Iran "fully responsible" for an apparent targeted attack on a vessel called Al-Rekayyat as it transited near the strait.

In a separate social media post, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said Iran had targeted the Saudi tanker Wadyan as it crossed the strait.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei described Qatar's accusations as "contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness".

He added that commercial vessels using routes not co-ordinated with Iran or tampering with the ship's tracking face a risk of collision and disrupt Iran's efforts to "facilitate safe transit" in the strait.