U.S. strikes Iran’s coastal defenses as Trump warns of escalation

U.S. forces hit Iran’s coastal defense systems and cruise-missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island in a strike wave that CENTCOM put at about 90 minutes, while Donald Trump warned Tehran it “better behave.” The attacks came after Washington renewed its blockade on Iranian ports at 20:00 GMT Tuesday and after Trump said Iran wanted to meet and make a deal.

The military moves were aimed at opening the Strait of Hormuz and warning off attacks on shipping. The United States claimed Iran had hit seven commercial ships in the previous week, leaving nearly a dozen crew members killed, missing or injured, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck U.S. military targets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and threatened to close “all other export corridors” that benefit the United States and its allies.

Earlier attacks hit Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, with strikes also hitting Abadan, Mahshahr, Qeshm Island and Kish Island, and Iran retaliated by striking two ships in Omani waters in the Strait of Hormuz, killing a crew member, the UAE said. Qatar condemned the tanker attacks, Oman called for respect for international law, and the International Maritime Agency called for the cycle of escalation to end after attacks that had already claimed two seafarers.

The conflict began with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, and oil prices rose about 1 percent on Wednesday to a one-month high as traders priced in renewed risk to a waterway that carried about a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war.