The recent series of attacks launched in the last few hours by the Iranian Army and the Revolutionary Guard has caused at least three injuries in Qatar and has set off alarms in Oman and Bahrain, in a context of new warnings from Tehran about the Strait of Hormuz, completely closed since last Saturday.
In this scenario, the spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei, declared on social media: "We have taken control of the strait by force, and by force we will preserve it," shortly after the main Iranian negotiator and president of the Legislature, Mohamed Baqer Qalifab, warned the United States that the era of unilateral pacts "is over," alluding to the deep differences in interpretation of the memorandum of understanding that has sustained the fragile ceasefire until now.
In Bahrain, alert sirens sounded up to three times throughout the morning, while the Ministry of Interior urged the population to remain calm and move to the nearest shelter. In parallel, security sources in Oman indicated to the official ONA agency the existence of "several drone attacks against targets in the Musandam Governorate," an Omani mountainous enclave that juts into the Strait of Hormuz and borders the United Arab Emirates.
The most serious incidents were recorded in Qatar. Its Ministry of Interior reported that at least three people were injured, including a minor, "due to falling shrapnel during interception operations." According to the statement, the injured "are receiving the necessary medical attention," without providing further details for now.
In parallel, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) had announced early Sunday a new round of attacks against Iran, in response to the Revolutionary Guard's offensive against a commercial vessel that, according to Washington, had ignored its warnings. Tehran maintains that this incident has motivated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz "until further notice."
According to Washington, this third wave of bombings against Iran in the course of the week has targeted around 140 Iranian military installations, including "Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, ammunition depots, communication networks, and coastal surveillance posts."