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Iran has accused the US of violating the agreement aimed at ending the war between the two sides, after the US military launched strikes around the strait of Hormuz and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Tehran to export oil.
The US military said the attacks launched in the early hours of Wednesday were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting through the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” US central command said, referring to the three tankers, including a Qatari LNG vessel, that were struck within hours in the strait.
Wednesday’s attacks were the latest in a string of ceasefire violations between the two sides, despite a truce that came into effect in April, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last month that began ۶۰ days of negotiations to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program and bring a permanent end to hostilities.
US officials speaking to multiple media outlets said Wednesday’s attacks targeted Iranian weapon launch sites, air defences and coastal surveillance system, and the operation was expected to “last for hours”.
Iranian state media reported a series of explosions on the Iranian island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, and in the city’s of Sirik and Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s foreign ministry accused the US of repeated violations of the MOU and warned that it would take “decisive measures” in response. Among the breaches of the agreement the ministry cited, was the US treasury decision on Tuesday to revoke the temporary suspension of sanctions on Iranian oil sales.
The US lifted sanctions on Iranian oil exports last month after signing the MOU, but re-imposed them on Tuesday after the attack on vessels in the strait of Hormuz.
The waiver on Iranian oil exports proved to be controversial among critics of the Trump administration’s Iran agreement, who said it amounted to the surrender of a key tool of economic leverage, before negotiations over the nuclear program had even begun.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO) said a Qatari tanker, Al Rekayyat, was among the vessels hit on Tuesday as it tried to travel south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman.
Qatar has been acting as a mediator in the talks between Washington and Tehran, but its foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, called it a “serious and explicit violation” of international law and said Qatar would hold Iran fully responsible for the act of aggression.
All three tankers were hit close to Oman, which has proposed a new shipping corridor close to its coastline, a suggestion which Iran opposes as it wants to charge ships to use the waterway.
Iran said on Tuesday that Washington’s efforts to open up new routes through the strait constituted a breach of the memorandum of understanding the two parties had signed. Tehran claims the memorandum is specifically worded to leave it, in consultation with Oman, to manage the reopening of the strait with the aim of commercial traffic returning to prewar levels within ۳۰ days.
Experts have said that the vague wording of the MOU has left both sides interpreting the agreement in different ways, with the repeated misunderstandings a continuing threat the ceasefire.
Wednesday’s strikes from the US came during the days-long funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the beginning of the war. Tuesday saw huge crowds mourning Khamenei in the holy city of Qom, with hundreds of thousands of people carrying flags and banners comparing Khamenei to revered Shi’ite martyrs. Some bore placards and banners reading “KILL TRUMP“.
