Iran to halt all Mideast energy exports amid renewed US blockade

Tehran is threatening to stop all energy exports in the Middle East after the US military intensified its airstrike campaign and reinstated blockade on Iranian ports, leaving the Islamabad memorandum to end the war in tatters.

The US Central Command announces as of 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, they have completed fresh strikes on Iran that lasted for seven hours.

This followed continuous Iranian attacks on neighbouring Gulf countries including Bahrain and Kuwait as well as ships going through the Strait of Hormuz on a route hugging the coastline of Oman.

US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper says in a statement that they are holding Iran accountable for its "unwarranted aggression" that endangered innocent lives.

Dozens of Iranian missile and drone sites, naval forces, and coastal defence systems near the strait came under attack by American fighter jets, drones, and naval vessels.

Port city Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island, Hengam Island, and Hajiabad were reportedly struck by US projectiles while more than 260 people have been wounded, according to Iran's Health Ministry official.

This as the US reimposes its naval blockade against Iran on Tuesday from 4 p.m. Eastern Time, which is aimed at stopping the country from getting its crude oil to the international market.

Hours before resuming the blockade, US President Donald Trump backs away from his plans to charge 20 percent toll on all Hormuz strait shipping, instead replacing them with Gulf investment.

He says, "I was called by different people, different countries, kings and Emirs and all of the people that we all know and we all love. And they said, we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars."

In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vows to act with action to protect what they believe in, every inch of their soil.

Paramilitary Revolutionary Guards Corp threatens on Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East.

The Guards notes, "The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one."

Iranian Deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has also stated that Washington was seeking to prevent Tehran from exercising what he described as "effective sovereignty" over the Strait of Hormuz. Gharibabadi says the United States has violated all of its commitments under the interim peace deal, declaring Iran is no longer bound by the accord.