TEHRAN: The United States launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, a day after saying it would impose a naval blockade to curb Tehran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes -- which started at 1900 GMT -- "are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz," US Central Command said in a post on X.
Nearly a month after they signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan's armed forces said they had downed three missiles from the Islamic republic.
Several explosions were also heard late Wednesday near the US consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, AFP journalists said.
US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.
"Next week it gets really bad for them," he told Fox News.
Despite renewed hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.
But Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told state television on Wednesday that "a memorandum of understanding only has meaning when its clauses are valid and being implemented.
If Iran is not to derive any benefit from the memorandum of understanding, we have no reason to adhere".
At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for global oil and gas flows.
Agreement 'dismantled'
Iran blockaded Hormuz after the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on February 28, using the waterway for leverage against its foes for months.
The strait was briefly reopened after the US-Iran deal last month, before Tehran vowed last week it would be closed again "until the US ends its aggression".
Traffic through the waterway remained low, with maritime tracker Kpler reporting only 21 transits on Tuesday.
The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum", referring to the interim deal reached last month.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it launched "a wave of strikes... designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz".
Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant.
Anxieties ran high in Iran. Khadijeh, 31, an artisan from Qasr-e Shirin in the southeast, said: "The little children are so frightened by the sound of explosions that they don't sleep until morning.
"If, God forbid, the war becomes more intense, then perhaps it will take several generations before we can get back on our feet."
Fears similarly abounded in Gulf countries hit repeatedly by Iranian strikes.
"Every day, I wake up wondering whether the situation will de-escalate or worsen," said Mustafa Mohamed, a 39-year-old Sudanese accountant living in Kuwait.
"It has become difficult to feel at ease or plan anything because uncertainty grips everyone."
Trump scraps levy
Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorised.
"The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue," the Guards said.
A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.
And Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.
Trump meanwhile said he was scrapping a planned 20-percent levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz that he announced Monday, replacing the fee with trade deals with Gulf allies.
Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.
Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday's strikes on the southeast.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has so far not rejoined the war, warned Iranian leaders on Tuesday that Israel would deal a heavy blow if they launched an attack on his country.
Speaking from Dimona, a southern town widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, he said: "Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us."