With the Iran-US ceasefire all but retired to the infirmary of international politics, Washington has conducted air strikes on Iran for a third straight night.  On early July 14, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas and six explosions on Kish Island, with further blasts on Qeshm Island.

Prior to those strikes, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that, “We’re attacking them tonight, and we’re taking out all their capability for anything having to do with the Strait of Hormuz”.  That bit of wishful thinking was also accompanied by the hope that a diplomatic agreement with Tehran might still be reached, despite the latest mayhem.  US Central Command (CENTCOM) then posted a note confirming that a “third consecutive night of strikes against Iran” had been ordered at Trump’s direction.  “These strikes will continue to impose a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

In a reversion to old positions, CENTCOM also announced that it would “resume blockading maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on 14th July at 4 p.m. ET.”  The US military would continue supporting “traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade.”  The previous blockade by US naval forces, lasting from 13th April to 18th June, saw the redirection, if we are to rely on CENTCOM’s figures, of over 140 compliant vessels, the disabling of nine recalcitrant ships, and the permitted transit of “over 50........

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