US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States attacked Iran early Sunday morning over an Iranian strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that set the container ship ablaze and forced its crew to abandon it.

Iran apparently responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The strait has become the key sticking point in any further negotiations between Iran and the United States to find a permanent end to the war that began back on Feb. 28.

About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began.

Iran’s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.

The U.S. military's Central Command said it hit some 140 targets in the strikes, far more than the last two round, and went after missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other sites.

The attacks “degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait," it said.

The new crossfire in the P