The fresh 5 p.m. ET wave of US strikes confirms Washington is sustaining, not winding down, its campaign against Iranian military assets around the strait, reinforcing the higher supply-risk premium already built into crude following the weekend's escalation. Explosions reported near Sirik, west of Bandar Abbas, and around Qeshm and Jask, all close to the strait's military infrastructure, will keep freight and war-risk insurance costs elevated and add to concerns over further disruption to the roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG flows that normally transit the corridor. With the White House explicitly framing the strikes as accountability action rather than a one-off response, traders are likely to price in continued volatility rather than a near-term de-escalation, even as the US maintains that its southern shipping route remains open.---Washington opens a new round of strikes on Iran, doubling down on its campaign around the strait.Summary:US Central Command said it began launching further strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday to continue degrading Tehran's ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Centcom statement.The statement said the strikes were directed by the Commander in Chief to hold Iranian forces accountable, per Centcom.Iranian state TV reported several explosions near Sirik and west of Bandar Abbas shortly after 5 p.m. ET, followed by further explosions around Qeshm and Jask.The new strikes follow a weekend in which Iran extended attacks to Qatar and the UAE for the first time in months and again declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, according to Reuters.Centcom said US forces had already struck more than 300 Iranian targets over three nights, including 140 on Saturday alone, per Reuters.Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued a written statement vowing revenge for his predecessor's killing in the strike that began the war in February, according to state television as reported by Reuters.US Central Command launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, extending a weekend of heavy exchanges as Washington moves to further degrade Tehran's capacity to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement, Centcom said the strikes were directed by the Commander in Chief to hold Iranian forces accountable, signalling the campaign is intended to continue rather than wind down.Iranian state television reported several explosions near Sirik and west of Bandar Abbas within minutes of the strikes beginning, followed shortly after by further explosions around Qeshm and Jask, both close to key military infrastructure on the strait.The new action builds on an already sharp escalation over the weekend, when Iranian and US forces exchanged heavy missile and drone strikes and Tehran extended attacks to Gulf states that had largely avoided them for months. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were both targeted for the first time in months, alongside renewed strikes on Jordan, Kuwait and Oman. Qatar said three people, including a child, were injured by falling shrapnel, while Kuwait reported damage from strikes and an injury at an oil drilling platform. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had struck facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar in response.Iran also again declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to shipping over the weekend, warning vessels against unauthorised transit and disabling a second vessel after firing on a container ship that left an Indian crew member missing. The US had already said its forces struck more than 300 Iranian military targets over three nights, including 140 on Saturday, while insisting that traffic continued to flow through an expanded southern route near Oman.The renewed and now continuing strikes further undermine an interim agreement reached last month that had aimed to reopen the strait and end the war following a further 60 days of negotiations. They also come as Iran's newly installed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, remains out of public view following his father's killing in the strike that opened the war in February, a statement in which he vowed vengeance for the death, adding a further layer of uncertainty to how Tehran responds to Washington's escalating campaign. This article was written by fl6553e4b45d84486a91658a8b3f02bf22 at investinglive.com.