US launches new strikes after Iran closes Strait of Hormuz and hits container ship

In brief

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until the "end of US interference".

It also launched strikes at its Gulf neighbours in retaliation for an earlier round of US attacks.

Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours, in retaliation for new strikes by the United States following an attack by Iranian forces on a merchant vessel that was abandoned in flames by its crew.

Sirens and explosions were heard in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, AFP journalists and local authorities reported, the latest escalation to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the war.

The Pentagon said it had struck Iran early Sunday after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they said was sailing an "unauthorised route" through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Jask and on Qeshm Island, as well as in Khuzestan province that borders Iraq, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Hours later, air raid sirens sounded over Bahrain, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar said they intercepted missile attacks.

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The IRGC said they struck and stopped a vessel ignoring repeated instructions to use an approved shipping corridor, according to a statement carried by Iranian news agency IRNA.

"Following this incident... the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region," the IRGC said.

The closure of the strategic waterway marks the latest escalation in a dispute that has become one of the main roadblocks to a final US-Iran agreement.

Tehran insists it will regulate shipping through Hormuz, while Washington demands unrestricted navigation through a route that carries roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade.

Announcement of second ship attacked

Although Iran called the strike on the ship "warning shots", the US military said Tehran "blatantly attacked" a Cyprus-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

A crew member was missing and the vessel had been disabled by fire and damage to its engine room, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

The crew abandoned the vessel and were on a lifeboat, British maritime agency UKMTO reported, adding the incident occurred around 17 kilometres (10 miles) east of Oman.

The IRGC also announced they had hit a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, state media reported.

"A second vessel accused of violating regulations in the Strait of Hormuz has been struck," the IRGC said in a statement carried by state television IRIB, adding they had also attacked a US base in Qatar.

The US strikes, which began at 9:15am AEST, were the third round carried out this week and were taking place at the direction of US President Donald Trump, CENTCOM said.

Earlier strikes by Tehran on vessels in the strait had triggered exchanges of fire between Iran and the United States, sparking heated rhetoric between the adversaries.

The tensions threatened an interim agreement aimed at ending the Middle East war, which broke out in late February with massive US-Israeli strikes that killed former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

A key roadblock to a final agreement is the future of the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the US started the war and was then closed by Iran to commercial shipping during the war.

The waterway is a key conduit for oil and gas exports out of the energy-rich Gulf, and its closure has heavily impacted the world economy.

Iran's supreme leader pledges revenge for slain father

The latest strikes came as Iran's supreme leader vowed revenge for the US-Israeli killing of his father and predecessor, hours after Trump threatened severe reprisals in the event of any attempt on his life.

Trump has declared their ceasefire over while leaving the door open for talks, and mediators have been trying to salvage a diplomatic solution, with Iranian media reporting that a delegation from Qatar travelled to Iran on Friday.

"Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out," new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message.

"This matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass," he wrote in his first message since his father's funeral this week.

He said Iran had compiled a list of individuals to be targeted.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since before the war, and was reportedly wounded in the strikes that killed his father.

Hours earlier, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that any attempt to assassinate him would lead the United States to "completely decimate" Iran.

"1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands of more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat, pronounced in many corners of the Globe, to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate, the sitting President of the United States of America, in this case, ME!," he wrote.

With threats flying, mediators have been working to bring diplomacy back on track. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Friday that a Qatari delegation was visiting Iran to "try to reinforce Qatar's role as a mediator".

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Tehran had stuck to its end of the bargain under the memorandum of understanding struck between the warring parties last month, but added: "There can only be mutual compliance."

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