The United States launched fresh strikes against Iran on Tuesday as a ceasefire negotiated just weeks ago teetered on the edge of collapse, with Tehran accusing Washington of violating the agreement and vowing retaliation.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that the United States committed “gross violations of the ceasefire” in the Hormozgan region near the Strait of Hormuz over the past 48 hours, according to Reuters. The statement warned Iran would respond and “will not hesitate in defending itself.” The US military had described its strikes — targeting boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites in southern Iran — as defensive actions.
The breakdowns put a fragile peace framework under severe strain. A proposed agreement reportedly offered Iran a pathway to normalized relations and the lifting of a US naval blockade in exchange for limits on its nuclear program and a formal reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil shipping choke point. Instead, military operations have continued alongside diplomatic maneuvering.
The developments coincided with dangerous escalation elsewhere in the region. Iran’s supreme leader warned Tuesday that the United States would “no longer have a safe haven in the region” — language that alarmed Western defense analysts monitoring for signs of broader conflagration.
In Lebanon, Israeli forces began operating beyond the so-called Yellow Line — a demarcation line running roughly 10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory — in what the IDF confirmed as a targeted expansion of ground operations approved by the political echelon. Meanwhile, an Israeli forces raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank left a Palestinian man dead, Palestinian health officials said. Israeli military officials said they were checking reports of the incident.
The killing came as Israeli media reported the military had expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon beyond the Yellow Line. More than 3,100 people have been killed since the original ceasefire collapsed on March 2.
US President Donald Trump faces mounting Republican criticism over the shape of a proposed peace deal with Iran, which critics have called a disaster that surrenders leverage America built through force. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, has privately told confidants that Israel has “little ability” to influence Trump’s Iran policy — a position that leaves Jerusalem largely on the sidelines as Washington and Tehran negotiate.
Oil prices jumped more than 4 percent to above $104 a barrel following the strikes, reflecting acute market anxiety about the fate of Hormuz logistics. Markets have been volatile since the US and Israel launched coordinated attacks on Iran in late February.
