Why has the US restarted strikes against Iran now?

The United States launched a third straight day of strikes against Iran Monday, as the U.S. and Iran sparred over the Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump sought to up pressure in the waterway with the resumption of a blockade and new payments. U.S. Central Command said the strikes “…will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” while Iran claimed to target US bases in the region, and the UAE announced two national tankers were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles in the strait. Those strikes killed one crew member and injured others. “We're attacking them tonight, and we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, with the Hormuz strait, and I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing,” President Trump said. The U.S. military says it’s hit hundreds of targets over the past week to degrade Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping while Iran has fired at Gulf nations the past several days. “We had a deal yesterday, or the day before yesterday, was all done, and then they broke up that deal immediately because they found out there was something in the deal they didn't like, and they're wired differently,” Trump said. ------------------------------------- Follow Scripps News on other platforms— Join our newsletter at https://bit.ly/2q1tepr Follow us on Facebook:   / scrippsnews   Follow us on X: https://x.com/scrippsnews Follow us on Instagram:   / scrippsnews   Follow us on TikTok:   / scrippsnews