The Iranian regime announced that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed again until further notice after striking a vessel attempting to move through an unapproved route on Saturday night.
In response, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it was conducting a round of strikes against Iranian targets.
"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 stated in a post on X/Twitter.
"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. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief."
CENTCOM also stated that a civilian crew member of the ship Iran had struck was missing, and that the vessel had sustained significant damage.
An official announcement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Navy claimed that the ship had ignored warnings and had been "provoked by foreigners" into attempting to move along the unapproved route.
Iran's IRGC Navy added that if the "enemy" used the incident as a pretext to attack, it would be met with a "severe response," including the targeting of bases in the region.
The strait would remain closed, the IRGC stated, with no vessels allowed to pass through, until the end of US interference in the region.
A US official confirmed to Axios that a commercial cargo ship had been struck, after the US had previously demanded that Iran announce that the Strait of Hormuz would be opened to all vessels.
US demands Iran stop attacking ships, open Strait of Hormuz
On Friday, senior US officials said that the United States is demanding that Iran publicly state it will stop attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and that all lanes in the strait will be open to shipping with no tolls.
Iran has adamantly refused to give up control of the strait, the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil supply typically flows.
The officials said conversations between the two countries had been productive in recent days. They made the comments to a small group of reporters in a conference call.
"What we're demanding is that the Iranians issue a public statement that acknowledges all channels of the Strait of Hormuz are open, and they're not shooting at ships anymore. They're either going to give us that statement, or we're not having a good outcome for them," one official said.