Iran draws red line on Strait of Hormuz after fresh round of US strikes

📌 Summary:

• As the US-Israel-Iran conflict completes four months, Tehran has drawn a red line over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying only Iran is "in charge of resuming" shipping through the strategic waterway
• Fresh violence threatens the fragile interim peace deal: Trump directed US forces to strike Iran over alleged ceasefire violations, warning Iran "will no longer exist" / the US would "militarily finish the job"
• US Navy/Air Force struck 10 Iranian military targets in and near Hormuz (surveillance infrastructure, communications, air-defence sites, drone storage, minelayer capabilities) after a tanker was hit off Oman
• The struck vessel: Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carrying crude oil for a state-run enterprise in Qatar
• Iran retaliated with drone/missile strikes on Kuwait (a major US army base; two ballistic missiles intercepted) and Bahrain (a residential building damaged, no casualties)
• Iran threatened a "complete halt" to negotiations if violations continued; FM Abbas Araghchi said under the US-Iran MoU the strait returns to pre-war capacity within 30 days, under Iranian management, after Iran removes obstacles

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 (IR) — West Asia geopolitics, chokepoint security and freedom of navigation, and implications for India's energy security and the ~9 million-strong diaspora in the Gulf.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman/Arabian Sea; ~a fifth of global oil passes through it
• Bordering states: Iran (north) and Oman/UAE (south); the exclave of Musandam (Oman) lies on the southern side
• Tanker struck: Kiku (Panamanian-flagged), bound for Qatar
• Iran's Foreign Minister: Abbas Araghchi

🔑 Key Term: Strait of Hormuz — a narrow maritime chokepoint between Iran and Oman/UAE, the world's most important oil transit corridor, whose closure would sharply disrupt global crude and LNG flows.