The United States launched fresh military strikes against Iran on Wednesday after reimposing a naval blockade of Iranian ports, while Tehran threatened to further disrupt regional energy exports, declaring it was engaged in an "existential war" with America.
The latest escalation comes just days after a fragile ceasefire collapsed, reigniting fears of a broader regional conflict, although analysts continue to view a return to full-scale war as a less likely outcome.
Hostilities have intensified since Iran announced late on Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, settled at a one-month high of US$84.95 a barrel on Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it began attacking Iranian coastal defence systems and cruise missile storage and launch sites on Greater Tunb Island, completing the first wave of strikes within approximately 90 minutes.
About nine hours later, Central Command announced a second wave of attacks.
"The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce. The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief's direction," Central Command said on X.
Three U.S. officials told Reuters the strikes were aimed not only at reopening the Strait of Hormuz but also at degrading Iranian military assets that could threaten any future, more complex U.S. operations.
Following the initial strikes, which Iran said hit a location on Hengam Island within the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the country's security depended on preserving what he described as "Iranian arrangements" in the strategic waterway.
"We are in an essential and existential war with America," Qalibaf said.
The conflict has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people, primarily in Iran and Lebanon, where fighting has resumed between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
U.S. President Donald Trump struck a confident tone, reiterating comments he has made since the U.S. and Israel began military operations on 28 February.
"We'll have Iran defeated soon. They'll be defeated very soon."
Speaking at a roundtable event at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, Trump also said the Iranian leadership wanted to "settle so badly".
"They don't like what we're doing, and they do want to settle. We'll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off," Trump said.
