US strikes on Iran and reinstated blockade in Strait of Hormuz

The US launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning.

This, hours after US President Donald Trump said Washington is "reinstating" a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump separately suggested the US will charge other ships for safe passage, upending hundreds of years of American policy supporting freedom of navigation across the globe.

The US military's Central Command said it struck areas around Abu Musa, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Chahbahar, Jask and Konarak, targeting Iranian "coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities."

Iran acknowledged strikes around those areas, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.

"These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the US military said.

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates travelling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others.

The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran, potentially drawing the nation home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai back into fighting with Tehran.

Still, US President Donald Trump claimed Washington now has the upper hand in peace negotiations.

DONALD TRUMP, US President: "Well, I think it's going very fast. We've demolished their military. We're hitting them very hard. We had a deal yesterday, or the day before yesterday, it was all done. And then they broke up that deal immediately because they found out there was something in the deal they didn't like. And they're wired differently and we're not going to put up with it. We are just going forward. We're attacking them tonight. We're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the Strait, with the Hormuz Strait. And I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing."

Trump also provided new details on his administration doing an about-face and suggesting it will charge tolls for ships going through the Strait of Hormuz after previously suggesting it wouldn't.

He said the US is protecting a very rich portion of the world.

"We're spending money. And so, what we've done is, we are going to be reimbursed for protection."

It's a change in US policy that, until now, said the strait should remain open to all without tolls as it was before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28th.

Any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.

Meanwhile, Iran's joint military command warned the US against interfering in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

It said "the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will respond forcefully to any disruption or insecurity caused by the aggressor and piratical US military to the passage of commercial vessels and oil tankers outside the route designated by Iran and without authorisation from the Armed Forces."