U.S.-Iran exchange fresh strikes after Hormuz tanker attack
The United States has carried out a new wave of airstrikes against Iranian military targets after a drone attack damaged a Panama-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran responded by launching missiles and drones at U.S. military facilities in the Gulf, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
According to the U.S. Central Command (Centcom), the strikes targeted 10 military sites in and around the Strait of Hormuz after Iran allegedly violated the ceasefire agreement by attacking the tanker MT Kiku.
"Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku," Centcom said, adding that the operation struck military equipment, communications systems, air defense positions and drone storage facilities.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the U.S. had attacked five Iranian coastal posts and announced retaliatory strikes on what it described as "eight key pieces of infrastructure" linked to U.S. forces at Ali al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. However, a U.S. official said there were no U.S. casualties or significant damage.
The IRGC warned that "any potential enemy aggression, under any pretext... will have a crushing response," while accusing Washington of violating the ceasefire memorandum signed earlier this month.
Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the U.S. operation as "brutal attacks" and said it demonstrated that Washington "does not place the slightest value and credibility on its commitments."
U.S. President Donald Trump, writing on Truth Social, warned that "there may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable," adding that if military action continued, "the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist."
The latest escalation follows another round of U.S. retaliatory strikes launched less than a day earlier after Iran targeted the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel MV Ever Lovely. Despite the renewed hostilities, Centcom said commercial shipping continues to transit the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the International Maritime Organization had suspended its evacuation plan for stranded vessels in the Strait of Hormuz following a suspected attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.