US launches third round of strikes on Iran

Washington: The United States launched a third round of strikes against Iran after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked a Cyprus-flagged container ship in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said.

US Central Command said its forces began the strikes at 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time (4.45 am Sunday Indian time). It said the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump in his capacity as commander in chief.

The latest military action followed an attack on the M/V GFS Galaxy, a commercial container ship sailing through the strategic waterway.

“At 7:15 p.m. ET today, US Central Command forces began launching the third round of strikes this week against Iran after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces blatantly attacked M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

The command did not immediately identify the locations struck or provide details about the targets. It also did not say which weapons were being used in the operation.

A civilian crew member remained missing after the attack on the vessel, according to CENTCOM.

The ship was left stranded because of a fire and extensive damage to its engine room. The nationality of the missing crew member was not disclosed.

“A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage,” CENTCOM said.

The US military linked the fresh strikes to what it described as Iran’s failure to comply with a Memorandum of Understanding. It said Tehran had been given another chance to demonstrate its adherence to the arrangement after earlier attacks on commercial vessels.

“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM said the latest operation was intended to weaken Iran’s capacity to threaten civilian sailors and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

“In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait,” it said.

“The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief,” CENTCOM added.

IANS