The United States struck Iranian targets in the area of the Strait of Hormuz early Sunday morning, a senior US official confirmed.
The official stated that the strikes were in response to an Iranian attack on a commercial vessel on Saturday near the coast of Oman.
At the same time, Iranian media reported explosions in the area near the port city of Sirik, and later also in the village of Maysan on Qeshm Island in the south of the country.
In response to the American strikes, Iran launched attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait, where the Kuwaiti military announced that the country’s air defense systems were repelling “hostile missile and drone attacks.”
The Naval Command of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reacted to the strikes carried out by US forces, declaring that “America’s blind fire in Sirri will not solve the mystery of our dominance over the Strait of Hormuz.”
Tehran claimed that the Iranian strikes on maritime vessels targeted those “violating the rules,” in order to remind other vessels in the region of what they defined as the “clear path of transit.”
The Iranian command issued a direct threat toward Washington, asserting that US bases stationed in the region “will experience hell in the coming days.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that “US Navy and Air Force fighter jets conducted strikes tonight on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz for Iran’s drone attack on M/T Kiku.”
The strikes marked the second time in as many nights that the US struck Iranian targets in the area of the Strait of Hormuz.
After Friday’s strikes, CENTCOM issued a statement which said that its forces conducted strikes against Iran “as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
According to the statement, US aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone. It added that the Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire. Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor,” said CENTCOM.
“CENTCOM forces continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait. The US military remains present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect.”
The strikes came minutes after US President Donald Trump hinted that the US could retaliate for Iran’s violation of the ceasefire on Thursday.
Earlier on Friday, Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that Iran fired at least four one-way attack drones at ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with one drone striking the upper deck of what he described as a large cargo ship.
Trump said the vessel sustained damage but was able to continue on its route. He added that three other drones were shot down. He added, “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.”
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