U.S. denies Iran closed Strait of Hormuz as war reignites, U.S. strike kills Indian sailors

President Trump said early Thursday that U.S. forces “will be taking” a key Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz and other oil infrastructure “in the not too distant future.” 

He made the remark in a Truth Social post after another exchange of strikes overnight, with U.S. forces hitting Iranian infrastructure — including a water storage facility, according to Iranian officials — in new attacks overnight. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones at several Persian Gulf states where there are U.S. forces based. 

“The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” Mr. Trump said in his Thursday post. “At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America.”

U.S. forces hit an oil tanker Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman for “attempting to transport Iranian oil,” according to Central Command, the third commercial vessel targeted this week.

CENTCOM said in a statement on X that it struck the Guinea-Bissau flagged M/T Jalveer’s engine room with two Hellfire missiles “after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from U.S. forces.” 

U.S. forces also struck the Palau-flagged oil tankers M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The Marivex was attempting to sail to an Iranian port and the Settebello was trying to transport Iranian oil, CENTCOM said.

An Indian official said Thursday on X that three nationals working on the Settebello were killed in the strikes. A senior U.S. diplomat in the country was summoned to hear India’s “strong protest.”

The U.S. has enforced a blockade of Iranian ports since shortly after a fragile ceasefire was agreed between the two countries in early April. Tuesday’s strike on the Settebello appears to be the first time since the war began that a U.S. strike has killed commercial mariners.

A Qatari negotiating team returned from meetings in Tehran Thursday morning, a Qatari official told CBS News. The source said the team returned to Doha after meetings that went into the early hours in the Iranian capital.

Diplomatic efforts, by Qatar and Pakistan, are continuing despite the U.S. striking Iran Wednesday and Tehran retaliating with strikes on Kuwait, Bahrain and an area hosting an American base in Jordan. 

The U.S. had previously held off on strikes while foreign diplomats were in Iran working to broker an agreement. 

Qatar condemned the latest Iranian missile attacks Thursday on Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, in a statement on X.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said earlier Thursday that the country’s leaders remained engaged in mediation efforts to broker a “negotiated settlement” between Iran and the U.S.

“It is hard to be an optimist in the new exchange of hostilities,” acknowledged foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi. But he added: “We haven’t lost hope, we remain engaged.”

An Iranian cargo vessel was struck by U.S. forces in the Gulf of Oman early on Thursday, the governor of Iran’s Sirik county was quoted as saying by the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr.

The 150-ton cargo dhow, a type of boat traditionally made of wood, was carrying essential goods when it was struck five nautical miles off the port of Khasab, the report claimed.

Mehr reported, citing the governor, that five crew members on board were rescued by nearby vessels and brought ashore in Oman.

The Jordanian military said it had intercepted 20 Iranian missiles launched Thursday toward Azraq, where an American military base is located.

In a statement, the Jordanian Armed Forces said aircraft had intercepted and shot down the missiles but no injuries or damage had been reported as a result of falling debris.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier in the day it had targeted the “Al-Azraq Air Base and its control center, using 12 ballistic missiles,” as quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The attacks come after U.S. Central Command announced it had carried out more strikes against Iranian targets in the early hours of Thursday.

An 11-year-old girl sustained minor injuries after an Iranian drone was intercepted over Bahrain on Thursday, according to the country’s Ministry of Interior.

In a social media post, the Ministry of Interior said falling debris from an Iranian drone intercepted over Bahrain had also caused damage to houses and set fire to cars in Hamad Town and Manama.

Earlier in the day, Bahrain reported incoming attacks from Iran as Tehran retaliated against U.S. strikes in the early hours of Thursday. Iran has previously targeted American bases in the country.

An Indian official said Thursday three Indian mariners were killed on board a tanker targeted by the U.S. military over allegedly violating America’s blockade on Iran.

In a social media statement India’s Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal announced the three mariners’ deaths in the attack on the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello.

“Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after two bodies were recovered,” he wrote. It wasn’t clear where the third body was. “This is a profound loss to our maritime family,” Sonowal said.

The U.S. military’s Central Command had accused the Settebello of having “violated the ongoing blockade by attempting to transport oil from Iran.” 

It fired into the ship’s engine room to stop it.

Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it had fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. command center in Jordan, according to state media.

This “punitive operation against the aggressor” targeted “Al-Azraq Air Base and its control center, using 12 ballistic missiles,” the Guards said, as quoted by the Tasnim news agency, and claimed to have destroyed these facilities “and a large number of fighter aircraft.”

Jordan didn’t acknowledge the attack, though the U.S. Embassy in Amman issued a warning about it.

Iranian missiles targeted several Gulf countries overnight, with interceptions also reported in Kuwait and Bahrain.

CBS/AFP

Both Kuwait and Bahrain reported incoming strikes early Thursday morning local time.

The Kuwaiti army said on X that its “air defense systems” were “intercepting hostile aerial targets.”

Bahrain’s interior ministry posted on social media that it had activated its emergency air raid siren.

This comes after the U.S. military hours earlier launched a second round of what U.S. Central Command described as “self-defense” strikes on targets inside Iran.

U.S. Central Command on Wednesday night denied Iran’s claim that the Strait of Hormuz was closed following a new wave of strikes on the country.

“Commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight,” CENTCOM said on social media.

Traffic through the strait, a key waterway for transporting oil, has slowed significantly since the start of the war. Earlier Wednesday, President Trump said efforts to help guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz have resulted in 100 million barrels of oil being moved through the channel as part of a “secret mission.”

Iran’s military said Wednesday night that, following renewed strikes by the U.S., the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all traffic, “including oil tankers and commercial ships. Any such traffic will be targeted.”

U.S. forces began striking Iran at 5:15 p.m. ET, in what U.S. Central Command called “self-defense strikes.”

The strikes are “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” CENTCOM said, and are targeted at key Iranian facilities such as ammunition depots, command and control nodes and warehouses, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the airstrikes. 

The strikes came hours after President Trump told reporters, “We’re going to hit them hard again today in case you miss it, in case you don’t turn on your television set. And we’ll see what happens with a deal. We were — we were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along.”