Fourth Strike in a Week: "Strait of Hormuz More Important Than Nukes"

[Anchor]

The United States and Iran have exchanged airstrikes four times in just one week. The conflict over control of the Strait of Hormuz is leading to the collapse of the ceasefire, and with no clear breakthrough in sight, the situation is becoming increasingly concerning.

Reporter Park Won-gyeong has the story.

[Reporter]

At midnight on July 13, local time in Iran, the U.S. military launched precision strikes using fighter jets and attack drones, targeting dozens of locations across Iran.

The scope of the attacks expanded across virtually all of Iran, from the coast of the Strait of Hormuz to the central inland region of Khondab.

Iran also expanded its retaliatory strikes to include Bahrain and Jordan, where U.S. military bases are located, the mediating nation of Qatar, and even the United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted recently.

The two sides have exchanged airstrikes four times in the past week.

The root of the conflict lies in the differing interpretations regarding control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Article 5 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on June 17 includes a provision stating that Iran will do its utmost to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran claims that this signifies the U.S. has recognized Iran's right to control the strait.

[Esmaeil Baghaei / Spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Please look at both the Persian and English versions of the MOU and judge for yourselves whether this clause leaves any room for a different interpretation."]

Conversely, the U.S. maintains that the emphasis of Article 5 is on "safe passage," and that it cannot tolerate Iran attacking merchant ships under the pretext of exercising control.

[Trump / President of the United States: "When Iran struck a few ships, we retaliated much more forcefully. If they hit us once, we hit them back ten times harder."]

However, Iranian leadership has even gone so far as to state that the Strait of Hormuz is more important than dozens of nuclear bombs.

As the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the closure of the strait, making it clear that they would not relinquish control, international oil prices have begun to rise again.

President Trump, who faces a direct hit to his prospects in the November midterm elections if oil prices continue to climb, is also in a position where he cannot back down.

The 60-day ceasefire agreement has already been broken, and with the possibility of future negotiations becoming increasingly uncertain, dark clouds are gathering once again over Middle East peace and the global economy.

(Video Editing: Jeong Seong-hun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.