Iran’s parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, declared on Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen exclusively under Iranian arrangements, not American threats, and warned Washington that any military strike would be met with an immediate counterstrike. “Let me be clear: if you strike, you will be struck,” Mr Ghalibaf wrote on the social media platform X, according to Iranian state media. The statement followed a new round of US air strikes on Iranian military targets and retaliatory attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, marking the collapse of a bilateral memorandum of understanding that had temporarily eased hostilities.

Viewed from Washington, the military operations were a direct response to what US Central Command described as Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he had authorised additional strikes to degrade Tehran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation, warning that any further incidents “will get much worse.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump said Iran had reached out seeking negotiations but expressed doubt about Tehran’s trustworthiness. US Central Command stated that the strikes, which followed an earlier wave hitting more than 80 targets, aimed at air-defence systems, coastal radar installations, anti-ship missile infrastructure and IRGC small boats.

From Tehran’s perspective, the American operations constituted the most extensive assault on Iranian territory since the signing of the June memorandum. Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Konarak, Chabahar and Kish Island, with power outages in parts of Chabahar. The IRGC confirmed it had targeted infrastructure at Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as Juffair and Sheikh Isa Air Bases in Bahrain, and warned that further US aggression would trigger strikes on additional American bases across the region. Mohsen Rezaee, a senior member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, separately threatened “unprecedented strikes” in response to any new military adventure. The exchanges unfolded as Iran conducted funeral ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, whose burial was delayed by large crowds, adding a layer of domestic political sensitivity to the crisis.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments pass, has become the focal point of the confrontation. Oil markets reacted sharply, with Brent crude rising more than seven percent to surpass $79 per barrel amid fears of a prolonged closure. The June memorandum had provided for the strait’s reopening after Iran shut it at the start of the war in February, but Mr Trump declared that agreement “terminated.” With no formal negotiations underway and both sides signalling readiness to escalate, the immediate outlook remains volatile. The US president’s scepticism about Iranian overtures and the ongoing military operations leave the dossier in a state of open confrontation, with no announced diplomatic track to restore the ceasefire.