Washington: The United States has launched strikes against Iran for the second consecutive day as the ceasefire and tentative peace deal continues to fray following renewed Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz.

“At the direction of the Commander in Chief, US Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US military said.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”

The exact targets of the strikes late on Wednesday night (Tehran time) were not immediately clear, but they followed strikes the previous night against Iranian air defence systems, missile stocks, surveillance systems and drone launch sites.

The US and the Gulf states accused Iran of attacking three ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker and a Saudi Arabia-flagged crude oil tanker. Iran denied responsibility.

But after the initial US response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The renewed violence represents the biggest threat to an already-fragile ceasefire since the Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the US and Iran in mid-June.

US President Donald Trump, speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey had foreshadowed more strikes against Iran were likely in the wake of its attempt to hit American bases.

More to come

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.