The US overnight Wednesday launched new strikes against Iran and reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil sales in retaliation for a series of attacks on commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

Axar.az reports, citing CNN, in a statement posted on X, US Central Command said its forces had begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces completed a new round of offensive strikes against Iran, July 7, hitting over 80 targets with precision munitions as an immediate response to Iran's latest attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said. “Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.”

The statement came soon after the US reimposed sanctions. Collectively, they marked one of the most significant challenges to the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran. The economic move, in particular, eliminated one of the central concessions made to the Iranian regime in exchange for its reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran will only reap benefits if they exhibit good behavior,” a US official said in a statement. “Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences.”