US conducts strikes on Iran
The US has conducted airstrikes in Iran for the first time since a preliminary peace agreement was signed on June 17.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American aircraft struck missile sites, drone storage facilities and radar installations on Friday in response to a drone attack on the Singaporean-flagged commercial vessel M/V Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for attacking the vessel, calling it a “foolish violation.”
Iranian media reported that explosions were heard on Sirik Island, in the southern province of Hormozgan. IRIB, citing a source, said that two projectiles struck a telecommunications tower near Sirik.
Citing a military source, Iranian outlets reported that warning shots had been fired hours earlier toward what the source described as “violating vessels” in the Strait of Hormuz.
Although Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ever Lovely, the country has said that only Iran and Oman can “define the future administration and maritime services” in the strategic waterway.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.
The resumption of hostilities comes at a delicate time, as the US and Iran are discussing the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed last week. The sides have put forward conflicting interpretations of the agreement, clashing over the administration of the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, and Israel’s military operation in Lebanon.
