July 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday it was launching more strikes against Iran.

The strikes began Tuesday afternoon Eastern Time, the U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

The strikes come as the U.S. is preparing to reinstate a blockade of Iranian shipping after Tehran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. blockade is set to go into effect at 1600 E.T. (2000GMT), according to the Central Command.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Writing by Christian Martinez; Editing by Caitlin Webber)

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