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Iran Threatens to Halt Energy Exports 07/15 06:12
The U.S. reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike
campaign Wednesday in retaliation for Tehran's attacks on ships trying to pass
through the Strait of Hormuz. The American strikes hit an Iranian army
barracks, killed at least seven troops and wounded more than 260 people across
the country, Iranian officials said.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The U.S. reimposed a naval blockade on
Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign Wednesday in retaliation for
Tehran's attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The
American strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killed at least seven troops and
wounded more than 260 people across the country, Iranian officials said.
Days of back-and-forth strikes by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East
-- and renewed threats to the waterway crucial to global energy supplies --
have shredded the interim deal to end the conflict and the region could tip
back into all-out war.
The U.S. first imposed a blockade in April and then lifted it last month
after signing the interim deal that paused the fighting and set a 60-day period
for negotiations over issues like Iran's nuclear program. Those talks have
stalled as fighting over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran
effectively closed the waterway to shipping traffic -- a move that sent the
price of oil, fertilizer and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and
gave Iran major leverage in negotiations. Those rising prices pose a particular
challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes
to retain control of Congress in elections in November -- but Washington has
struggled to successfully reopen the waterway.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all
energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.
"The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or
for no one," it said.
Both the US and Iran launch attacks as the blockade is reimposed
The U.S. carried out a wave of strikes, hitting dozens of targets over seven
hours overnight, the military's Central Command said Wednesday. Later, it
resumed striking Iran during daylight -- an usual move that further signaled
the increasing tempo in attacks.
One strike targeted a barracks for Iran's 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade,
which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province,
Iranian state television reported. The report said the Americans fired at least
13 missiles in the attack and that the seven dead included conscripts and
career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.
Including those at the barracks, more than 30 people have been killed in
recent days, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said, without
elaborating.
Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, meanwhile, said
over 260 people were wounded in overnight strikes alone -- a figure far larger
than for any other round of recent violence between Iran and the U.S. He did
not say how many people were killed overnight.
The army said it would make "a decisive response to this aggressive action
by the American enemy," according to state TV.
Missile alert warnings sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait early Wednesday as they
faced incoming Iranian fire -- a daily occurrence in recent days. Jordan said
it shot down three incoming Iranian missiles. Iran claimed attacks on the three
nations, all of which host U.S. forces.
U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said in a statement
that Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighboring Gulf Arab
countries.
Trump told the Fox News Channel on Tuesday night that more U.S. strikes
against Iran would come over the next two days and that bridges and power
plants could be targeted by next week unless negotiations resume. Already, the
U.S. has struck at least one bridge.
"You better make a deal, or you're not going to have anything left," Trump
warned.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, criticized
America's attacks.
"The U.S. is the aggressor, not the victim," he wrote to the world body's
leader, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the fighting
The latest round of fighting is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, through
which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas trade passes during peacetime.
How to reopen the strait has bedeviled the U.S. since Iran choked it off in the
early days of the war.
During the interim deal, some ships began moving through the passage using a
route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran's control.
In recent days, Iran attacked ships using that route -- and back-and-forth
attacks ensued. The U.S. has threatened to reopen the strait by force -- but
experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of
ground troops. Imposing the blockade is another way to put pressure on Iran.
The price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, traded above $85
a barrel on Wednesday -- more than 15% higher than the price before the war,
but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conflict.
When Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he
would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait. But he dropped the
plan to collect fees, citing requests from allies in the Persian Gulf.
"They said we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the
United States with billions and billions of dollars," Trump told reporters
Tuesday in the Oval Office.
It was unclear if the investment deals would be new commitments relative to
what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.
Trump's plan to charge fees would have been a change to longstanding
American policy and a departure from U.S. promises that the strait would remain
open to all without tolls.
Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would
remain free of charge for 60 days -- but the agreement left open what would
happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic and potentially
charge fees. The U.S. has disputed that.
Regional mediators meanwhile are still trying to get the United States and
Iran back to the negotiating table.
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