The United States and Iran exchanged attacks at pre-ceasefire levels for a second day around the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard declared a re-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to "make this place hell," while US President Donald Trump warned that he would "seize Iran like Venezuela."
On Wednesday, Trump posted on Truth Social, "The United States will strike Iran powerfully tonight," adding, "Before long, we will occupy Kharg Island and other oil infrastructure, and completely seize Iran's oil and gas markets, as we did in Venezuela." The hardline move came after Iran responded with a counterattack to the previous night's massive assault, in which the US launched 49 Tomahawk missiles.
Earlier, the US reported that explosions were detected on Qeshm Island and Kish Island near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Alborz and Karaj, located west of the capital Tehran, and that air defense systems were activated at the Asaluyeh Petrochemical Complex, Iran's largest oil refining facility. The US attacked oil tankers passing through Hormuz on three consecutive days, on the 8th, 9th, and 10th. Among them, three people aboard the Settebello, which was struck on the 9th, were killed.
In response, Iran tightened the Hormuz blockade again after it had briefly loosened following the ceasefire. Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Wednesday that live fire was directed at two vessels that attempted to pass illegally in violation of the passage ban. However, the US Central Command rebutted this, saying, "Merchant ships are moving in and out of the Strait of Hormuz." Trump has claimed that 100 ships have supplied more than 100 million barrels of crude oil.
Iran also bombed 18 US military bases in Gulf states. For a second day following the previous one, it launched missiles and drones at the US Navy's Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain, and is known to have struck a military radar at the US Air Force base in Harir, northern Iraq.
Nevertheless, both sides are known to be continuing negotiations, but the situation has become complicated again following Trump's mention of resuming attacks. Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing an Iranian source, that "the two countries have reached the stage of political understanding on a memorandum of understanding (MOU)," adding that "some issues still require detailed discussion, including the release of tens of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets." However, Iran's semi-official media Tasnim drew the line, saying that "the negotiations are groundless." Behind-the-scenes negotiations by mediating nations also continued. According to AFP and CNN, the Qatari negotiating team mediating between the US and Iran left on the morning of the 11th, Tehran time, after concluding overnight talks with Iranian officials.
