The US and Iran each claimed to control the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks across the Middle East, further threatening diplomacy to end the war, American and Iranian media reported on July 13.

The competing claims show that the waterway, which once carried a fifth of the world's traded crude oil and gas, remains the central issue in negotiations, with shipping disrupted since the war began as Iran attacked commercial vessels to maintain its grip on the strait.

The attacks were sparked by Iran striking a container ship on July 12 in the strait off the coast of Oman. US Central Command said its forces had hit dozens of sites, including air defence systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats. "The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it," CENTCOM said.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said its naval forces had struck US facilities at Jufair in Bahrain and, in a fifth round of retaliation, destroyed a long-range FPS air radar and a vessel-detection radar in Oman. "In addition to targeting the facilities and infrastructure of the aggressor US military at Jufair in Bahrain, whose flames are now rising, they struck and destroyed the long-range FPS air radar and the vessel-detection radar in the Kingdom of Oman with pounding missile and drone strikes," the Guards said.

"The only way for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen to vessel traffic is an end to the interventions of the aggressor US military in this strait and respect for the sovereignty of states over their own coastal waters," the statement said. "The continuation of these interventions will bring greater incidents in the field of world oil and gas."

Iran's army said it had struck US positions, air defence and missile systems, shelters and support structures in Kuwait with attack drones. It said the latest US strikes had hit an agricultural water pump in Mahshahr, and vowed to respond to any aggression. "With the firm determination and will of the armed forces and with all our power, we will not hesitate for a moment in defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Iran," the army said. The strike claims could not be independently verified.

Iran and the US are near the midway point of the 60-day interim deal meant to set up talks for a permanent end to the war, which has instead devolved into attacks over the strait. "A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.