US strikes Iran after ship attack Trump says violated ceasefire; Tehran says it targeted US positions in response
The Singapore-registered cargo ship, operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp, was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman.
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WASHINGTON: The US struck Iran on Friday (Jun 26) in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. It is the most significant test yet of an interim understanding reached a week ago by the two countries to begin working to end their months-long war and reopen the pivotal waterway.
US President Donald Trump said the drone attack violated the ceasefire.
“I don’t like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them,” Trump said at the White House shortly before the US struck back. When asked why there would be strikes when Trump has insisted talks with Tehran are going well, Trump said of Iran: “They’re a little bit different.”
US Central Command said the military struck missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites in Iran.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday said it had targeted US military positions in the region, in response to the latest US strike.
The guards did not provide details on the US positions it targeted in the region.
"If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this," the guards said, according to a post by state TV on Telegram.
The statement by IRGC came after semi-official ISNA news agency carried an earlier statement saying the force's response to the fresh attack against Iran will be "swift and decisive", before later deleting the statement.
The Guards said they repelled an attack against Sirik Island, which is located on the shores of the Strait of Hormuz.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, responded to Trump on social media earlier Friday, saying that “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules” and to “not mistake control for escalation”.
“This is not a violation of the ceasefire; it is ceasefire management,” Azizi wrote.
The Singapore-registered cargo ship, operated by Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp, was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman. It came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route.
No injuries were reported.
The development came during a fragile time for the US and Iran as they work to negotiate a permanent end to the war. Iran has increasingly challenged the region and the US over its control of the Strait of Hormuz, even with the current interim deal it reached with the US last week.
The attack on the cargo ship happened while a United Nations maritime agency was beginning an operation to move stranded ships out of the strait this week, using an alternative route, hugging the shores of Oman rather than sailing through the central part of the strait.
The International Maritime Organization halted the evacuations after the attack and said on Friday that they will not resume until there are guarantees that the other ships won’t be attacked.
About 115 ships were able to move out of the strait in recent days, leaving about 500 still in the area, said Arsenio Dominguez, the agency’s secretary-general.
The opening of the alternative passage through the strait was expected to relieve pressure on the world economy and remove Iran’s main source of leverage in ongoing peace talks with the US.
The US and Iran are still negotiating the terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.
CARGO SHIP ATTACK A TEST FOR SHIPPING
Shipping analysts said the drone strike cast a shadow over what had been a growing stream of trapped vessels finally leaving the Gulf and an increasing flow of tankers carrying crude oil.
“A week of widening commercial confidence in the Strait of Hormuz has hit its first significant test,” said marine data company Windward on X. It said that while the strait remains operationally open with 43 transits recorded after the incident, “the pace of normalisation has slowed”.
On Wednesday, before Thursday’s drone strike, 78 vessels transited the strait, the highest since the war began, although below the prewar averages of 130 or more per day.
At least two tankers reversed course while attempting to transit the strait on the UN-backed route near Oman after Iran insisted vessels use only the Tehran-approved routes, according to marine data and analytic firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
More than two dozen ships were still transiting the strait's southern route after the attack, Lloyd's said Friday.
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