Iran War LIVE: US forces expand strikes on Iran as dispute over control of Hormuz continues

Iran-US War LIVE: The United States reportedly expanded its strikes on Iran in the early hours of Monday, Iranian state media said. Eskan News’ Telegram channel claimed that the latest wave of attacks targeted a wider range of locations in southern and western Iran than previous attacks. According to the report, the targeted areas include Qeshm, Sirik, Bandar Abbas, Jask, Bushehr, Khondab, Bandar Mahshahr, Behbahan, Andimeshk, Dezful, Ahvaz, Abadan and Khorramshahr.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command said that at 5:00 PM ET (Sunday afternoon) today, the force began conducting additional strikes against Iran “to continue to degrade its ability to attack civilian sailors and commercial ships moving freely through the Strait of Hormuz.” It said the commander-in-chief directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable.

Why did the US start new strikes?

The United States launched new missile strikes against Iran on Sunday, the fourth in a week. US Central Command said the weekend strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on a Cypriot-flagged container ship.

CNN reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired again at merchant ships and that US aircraft intercepted an Iranian cruise missile and an attack drone.

The Islamic Republic then launched retaliatory drone and missile attacks on US allies across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar. So far, only minor damage has been reported, and no one was injured, according to Bloomberg.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned US military strikes against Iran in the previous 24 hours, accusing Washington of violating international law and warning neighboring countries not to assist any military action against the country.

“Only 25 days have passed since the ceasefire agreement that ended the war, yet the US government has violated almost all aspects of the agreement,” the ministry said, according to Iran International, calling the attacks “the gravest war crimes”.

Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for all the latest updates on the Iran-US war.