Iran-US war latest: Tehran vows to extend ‘exclusion zone’ near Strait of Hormuz after US strikes on tankers

Iran has said Tehran plans to establish an “exclusion zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz targeting vessels it believes are attempting to transit the strategic waterway. The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said the zone would be declared in the coming days and would stretch for some distance on either side of the Strait "begin[ning] from the line of the US naval blockade". It comes as the US and Iran have traded strikes on ships, the latest round of attacks since the conflict flared a week ago after a period of relative calm.

US Central Command said it struck three Iranian oil tankers, including one off the coast of Kharg Island, near the nation’s oil export hub, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy ships. The IRGC responded by threatening intensified strikes against US military vessels in the region, and later said it targeted three tankers that Tehran claimed were on unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as three US-linked vessels in other areas. Iran's claims to have successfully struck an uncrewed US military vessel were a "total lie", however, according to a Centcom spokesperson.

The new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said Tehran plans to announce an "exclusion zone" outside the Strait of Hormuz aimed at vessels it believes are attempting to transit the waterway. Mohsen Rezaei's comments to Iran's state broadcaster came with few details, a day after the US struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Tehran launching ballistic missiles at US warships. Experts called the launches a dangerous escalation after Iran's previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

The new zone should be announced in the coming days and weeks and "will begin from the line of the US naval blockade, extend toward the Strait of Hormuz, and from this side continue into the Persian Gulf," Rezaei said. Iran has accused the US of causing disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and then attempting to blame Tehran for the fallout. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington was trying to “put Iran’s name” on the consequences of a crisis it had created.

Baghaei also shared a Simpsons meme depicting Homer and Bart standing beside a spreading fire, with Bart saying: “Relax. It’s a controlled burn.” “America started the war but expects the whole world to pay the bill, while portraying Iran as the one that caused this chaos”, he wrote on X. Israeli strikes killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon and leveled an empty hospital, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Strikes on the village of Arabsalim killed two, the ministry said. Two others were killed in Nabatiyeh al-Fawqa, near a strategic hill that Israel said its forces gained control over on Thursday. And three people were killed in the village of Nabatiyeh al-Tahta after an Israeli drone struck a parking lot.