US hits Iranian military sites after a drone strike on a cargo ship, raising fears of renewed regional escalation.
- +US Strikes Iran After Cargo Ship Attack In Strait Of Hormuz As Ceasefire Frays
The United States launched military strikes against Iran on Friday in response to what Washington described as an Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with both countries accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire reached last week.
The United States launched military strikes against Iran on Friday in response to what Washington described as an Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with both countries accusing each other of breaching a ceasefire reached last week.
US Central Command said American aircraft targeted missile and drone storage facilities as well as coastal radar installations in Iran. The military later released footage showing an explosion at one of the sites and said the operation had concluded.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” US Central Command said, describing the action as “a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran said a projectile struck an area near a pier in Sirik, in the country’s southern Hormozgan province, but insisted the port itself suffered no damage and remained fully operational.
Iranian authorities said naval forces responded by targeting US military positions in the region, although Tehran did not disclose the locations or extent of any damage.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards later confirmed that their navy had “struck the locations where the terrorist US military is stationed in the region” and warned that any further American attacks would trigger a wider response.
“If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the Guards said in a statement carried by state media.
Vice President JD Vance said Washington had honoured the ceasefire agreement, formally described as a memorandum of understanding, and accused Tehran of violating its terms.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance wrote on X.
Iranian state media, citing an unnamed military source, said several warning shots had earlier been fired from Sirik towards vessels accused of violating regulations governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The source added that two warning missiles had also been launched from the nearby Karpan area.
The latest confrontation comes amid growing tensions over control of the strategic waterway, through which roughly one fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.
President Donald Trump blamed Iran for Thursday’s attack on the cargo vessel near Oman’s coast and accused Tehran of violating the interim ceasefire agreement reached last week.
The US military said it would continue providing “safe passage coordination and support” for commercial shipping moving through the strait.
Despite the renewed hostilities, diplomatic efforts elsewhere in the region appeared to make progress. Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement aimed at ending fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
The deal envisages Hezbollah disarming and Israeli forces withdrawing from Lebanese territory, although Hezbollah has already said it will not cooperate with the arrangement.
The renewed tensions in the Gulf initially rattled energy markets, although oil prices fell by around three per cent on Friday as tankers resumed movements through the Strait of Hormuz.
Shipping data also showed that Saudi Aramco had resumed crude loadings at its Ras Tanura terminal after a suspension lasting nearly four months, while fertiliser shipments through the strait also increased, easing concerns over global food supplies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, concluding a regional tour aimed at reassuring Gulf allies, issued a joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council calling for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, however, maintained that the waterway should be jointly administered by Tehran and Muscat, while Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned Gulf states against aligning themselves with Washington.
