The United States launched a third round of strikes on approximately 140 Iranian military targets after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one Indian crew member missing and causing significant engine-room damage [3][7][18]. US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated the strikes aimed to continue degrading Iran's ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships transiting the strait [3][5]. Iranian officials reported casualties from the US strikes, with local authorities reporting one person killed and four wounded in Khuzestan province [10] and Iranian media reporting one killed and two wounded on Farur Island [33]. Iran's Health Ministry spokesperson stated that strikes over the previous two rounds had killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others [26]. The IRGC said the vessel had disregarded warnings and was traveling on an unauthorized route [15][26]. Oman reported that 23 crew members were rescued and summoned Iran's ambassador to protest drone attacks on its territory [5][7]. India confirmed one of its nationals was missing from the GFS Galaxy [41].
President Donald Trump declared the strait open and asserted that US forces were keeping it that way by force, stating: "It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night" [11][27]. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: "Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay" [3][26]. The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center reported that transit was still possible through the southern route of the strait, though the security threat remained serious [9][11]. CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins told CNN that US aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone [5].
Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to recent illegal movements of US military forces [5][27]. The IRGC declared the strait would remain closed until the end of US interference in the region [7][8]. Ebrahim Rezai, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission, stated: "Hürmüz Boğazı'nı güçle aldık ve yine güçle koruyacağız" (We took the Strait of Hormuz by force and will protect it by force) [12]. Mohsen Rezaee, senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader, described the strait as "more important than dozens of atomic bombs" and said the Islamic Republic would protect it [11][22]. Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters emphasized that the strait was not the "aggressive US playground" but a territory of Iran's undisputed sovereignty [19].
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei rejected the framing of a symmetric military confrontation, stating: "This is not a 'military confrontation.' It is the continuation of a blatant and unprovoked act of aggression initiated on 28 February by the United States and Israel" [6][27]. Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the US strikes, accusing Washington of having reduced to nothing all diplomatic efforts of recent months and openly violating almost all terms of the June memorandum of understanding [21]. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of violating the ceasefire agreement, writing: "There can only be mutual compliance" [14][7].
Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator with the US, declared: "The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking" [3][7][13]. Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, pledged to avenge the killing of his predecessor and father, stating: "We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs" [7][14][18].
Iran's retaliatory strikes targeted US military facilities across multiple Gulf states. The IRGC stated it had destroyed a command-and-control center and drone hangars in Jordan, targeted a US radar site in Kuwait, attacked US carrier support platforms at Oman's Duqm port, and destroyed a jet maintenance center in Qatar [5][25][17]. Qatar's Ministry of Interior reported three injuries, including a child, from falling shrapnel and held Iran fully legally responsible [2][26]. Bahrain's Ministry of Interior sounded warning sirens and urged residents to seek safety [2][10]. The Kuwaiti Army announced it had confronted hostile air targets inside Kuwaiti airspace [2][22]. The UAE's Ministry of Defense stated that air defense systems dealt with ballistic and cruise missiles and drones from Iran [2][12]. Jordan's Armed Forces confirmed three Iranian missiles landed in its territory, causing limited material damage [12][28].
Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Iranian attacks as a grave violation of Kuwait's sovereignty [2]. Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry condemned repeated Iranian attacks on regional countries and rejected violations of their sovereignty [12]. Egypt condemned the attacks as a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the countries affected [33]. Iraq's foreign ministry warned of risks to regional security and called for dialogue [33][21]. The UAE's diplomatic advisor Anwar Gargash assessed the chance of a US-Iran agreement as fifty-fifty and warned that any control over the strait would create a dangerous precedent [45].
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned by the serious escalation" and urged Iran and the US to urgently resume negotiations and exercise maximum restraint [23][21]. Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told his Iranian counterpart that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to resolving disputes [7][27]. Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met with Iran's Araghchi to discuss mechanisms for safe passage of ships through the strait [4]. Oman reportedly submitted a proposal for toll-free passage through the strait's southern route in Omani territorial waters, with prior Iranian approval required for the northern corridor [8][14].
The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) condemned attacks on commercial ships and called on member states to reject Iran's unilateral decision to control the strait [36][23]. The IMO reported that approximately 6,000 seafarers remained stranded in the Gulf and that an evacuation plan had been paused due to security risks [43][23], though other assessments put the number of stranded seafarers at over 20,000 [35]. International legal scholars argued that Iran's attempt to close the strait or impose transit tolls was legally untenable under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Alexander Lott, a researcher at the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea, argued that there was no de facto blockade and that neutral states' ships could continue to exercise their right of transit passage [42]. Valentin Schatz, a professor of international law at Leuphana University, explained that a general transit fee was incompatible with the law of the sea [48]. Jennifer Parker, a visiting professor at the University of Western Australia, argued that Iran would fail to impose a toll due to legal, operational, and political obstacles [37].
Stranded seafarers described psychological strain and increased costs. Captain Shafiqul Islam of the Bangladeshi ship Banglar Joyjatra said: "انگار در یک برکه گیر افتادهایم. فقط یک راه برای خروج وجود دارد و آن هم هرمز است" (It's like we're trapped in a pond. There's only one way out, and that's Hormuz) [34]. Chief Engineer Rashedul Hasan reported that the price of water for the ship had risen from 1,500 to 2,000 US dollars to 11,000 US dollars [34]. Indian seafarer Salman Siddiqui described the daily routine of planning to survive the night and praying not to be targeted [35]. The International Transport Workers' Federation warned that the war had increased seafarers' vulnerability, with many facing delayed wages, food shortages, and psychological distress [35].
War-risk insurance premiums rose to between 2 and 6 percent of vessel value and would not fall until a durable ceasefire was achieved, according to Marcus Baker, global head of marine at Marsh [40]. Energy market analyst Bill Farren-Price, head of gas research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, warned that the situation was equivalent to a supply shock for the global energy market and that there was no realistic military solution to fully secure the strait [38]. Oil prices rose over 3.5 percent with WTI rising above 74 US dollars a barrel following the strikes [10]. Baron Waqa, secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, warned that disrupted fuel supply chains were straining essential services and livelihoods across Pacific economies [44].
French defense specialist Guillaume Ancel characterized the conflict as a "zone grise entre la guerre et la paix" (grey zone between war and peace), arguing that neither side could afford a full-scale war [21]. Researcher Thierry Coville of IRIS argued that a military solution was not viable for either side, as both economies were suffering [21]. Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on the strait; Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya stated that Russia could not support a text that would create a dangerous precedent for international law, and Chinese ambassador Fu Cong said the draft did not reflect the root causes of the conflict [47]. Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani called the resolution a US project aimed at punishing the victim of aggression and thanked China and Russia for their veto [47]. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that he and Prime Minister Netanyahu had instructed the military to prepare for independent strikes on Iran [12].
Oman and Iran continued diplomatic talks on navigation mechanisms for the strait, with Iran's foreign ministry saying discussions with Oman were unable to reach a result due to US pressure on Oman [5]. The JMIC reiterated guidance that an expanded southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic [5][11]. Trump declared the ceasefire over but left the door open to continued negotiations [3][29].