Iranian media report explosions near Sirik close to Strait of Hormuz

Iranian cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda said rising prices in Iran were helping achieve the same objectives the country’s enemies sought through bombing attacks during the recent war.

“What the enemy wanted to create through bombardment, some people now want to create through profiteering,” Alamolhoda said, adding that rising prices were making people dissatisfied and that those responsible were “US foot soldiers inside the country.”

He accused unnamed actors of raising prices for dairy products, cars, petrochemicals and steel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the international community could not accept Iran asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz, warning it would set a dangerous global precedent.

“Iran now claims that they have a right to control an international waterway,” Rubio said. “The world is going to have to decide whether it is prepared to normalize that.”

Rubio said the United States was pursuing a diplomatic solution and working on a UN Security Council resolution aimed at preventing Iran from controlling or mining the strait.

“If the answer is no, we don’t want to normalize it, then you better have something more than just strongly worded statements to back it up,” he said.

Rubio also said humanitarian aid remained trapped inside the Persian Gulf because of the situation around the waterway.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United States would respond forcefully to any Iranian attacks on US naval vessels, warning that forces threatening American ships would be “blown up.”

“If they threaten Americans, they’re going to get blown up,” Rubio said when discussing recent clashes between US and Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz.

Rubio said the US response to Iranian fire on American destroyers was separate from “Operation Epic Fury,” which he described as an offensive campaign targeting Iran’s missile launchers, navy, air force and military factories.

“If you fire on a US Navy ship, what are we supposed to do?” Rubio said. “Of course we fired back at them.”

He also warned Iranian fast-boat units against approaching US naval vessels, saying: “We’re going to blow those boats up if they’re coming towards our boats.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected to receive Iran’s response to a US proposal later in the day.

“We should get Iran response today,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to Italy.

Rubio said the United States had not yet received Tehran’s reply, adding: “I hope it’s a serious offer” and “hope that it puts us in a process of serious negotiation.”

“We will not negotiate with Hezbollah. We are focused on the Lebanese government,” Rubio said when asked about tensions involving Israel, Lebanon and Iran.

US Central Command said on Friday that American forces were preventing more than 70 tankers from entering or leaving Iranian ports as part of efforts to restrict Tehran’s oil exports.

“There are currently more than 70 tankers that US forces are preventing from entering or leaving Iranian ports,” CENTCOM said on X.

The command said the vessels had the capacity to transport more than 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth more than $13 billion.