UNITED STATES PERSPECTIVE

The United States government is fully backing a new offensive against Iran, framed as a calibrated response after three separate attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz within 24 hours. The CENTCOM specified on X that it had launched "a series of powerful strikes" targeting Iranian air defense systems, coastal surveillance facilities, surface-to-air missile batteries, anti-ship missile sites, drone launch areas, and port infrastructure. The US command characterizes the Iranian aggression as "unprovoked, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire."

The strikes come as the US and Tehran have been negotiating for several weeks to reopen a key maritime corridor through which approximately 20% of the world's oil transited before the war. The agreement protocol signed in June, which ended nearly four months of conflict triggered on February 28 by Israeli-American strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, provided for the reopening of the strait without tolls for 60 days. Commercial traffic had resumed from zero to over twenty daily passages, according to the Windward platform.

Indirect talks held in Doha ended without significant progress, and Tehran hinted at its involvement in Monday and Tuesday's attacks on an oil tanker, a methane carrier, and a third ship, which were damaged without causing casualties. President Trump warned on Monday that Iran must "reach an agreement, or we will finish the job." The US Treasury immediately revoked the sanction waiver that allowed the sale of Iranian oil, initially valid until August 21: Tehran now has until July 17 to sell its production. "Iran will only benefit if it behaves," a US official warned anonymously.

Oil prices immediately reacted, with Brent rising to $72.49 and WTI to $68.94. Negotiations remain suspended during the six-day mourning period observed in Iran after Khamenei's death, whose funeral in Qom drew crowds calling, according to several accounts, for the death of President Trump.