Following President Donald Trump’s announcement, the United States has again enforced a naval blockade on Iran’s ports and coastal areas from 4 p.m. Washington time (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday. The US military confirmed that it had put the blockade into effect.
In a post on the social-media platform X on Tuesday afternoon, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said: “More than 20 US Navy warships and over 100 military aircraft are currently operating across the Middle East. US forces are always alert, ready to fight and prepared for any situation.”
On 28 February, the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran. In response, Iran effectively halted all shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway vital to the world’s supply of goods, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
After Tehran closed the strait to shipping from March, Washington imposed a naval blockade on Iran’s ports and coast in April, cutting off the entry and exit of cargo ships at Iranian ports. The blockade was lifted in June after the two sides signed an interim memorandum of understanding.
Despite the memorandum, attacks and counter-attacks between the United States and Iran never fully stopped, with both sides carrying out intermittent strikes and accusing each other of violating the deal. Last week Trump abruptly declared the ceasefire under the memorandum cancelled, and earlier this week he announced the naval blockade would be reimposed.
Beyond the blockade, the United States struck various targets inside Iran on Tuesday for a fourth straight night. Trump warned that if Tehran did not return to talks, Iran’s power plants and bridges could be hit next week. The US military said it had launched fresh strikes to further weaken Iran’s ability to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Several thousand people have been killed since the Iran war began. Iran’s army said early on Wednesday that it had carried out drone attacks on US positions at the Azraq base in Jordan; the Pentagon made no immediate comment. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had also struck arms and military-equipment depots in Bahrain and Kuwait. Reuters could not independently verify these claims.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report