U.S. forces launched strikes on Iran on June 26 in response to a drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced.
CENTCOM previously assessed that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched an explosive one-way attack drone that struck the bridge of the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely on June 25.
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier on Friday called Iran’s attack a violation of a ceasefire reached by the two countries.
CENTCOM said U.S. aircraft struck missile and drone storage locations, as well as coastal radar sites inside Iran, as part of the retaliatory operation.
“Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor,” CENTCOM stated.
Iranian authorities have not claimed responsibility for the June 25 attack on the M/V Ever Lovely.
In statements shared by state-run media on June 25, the IRGC said vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz must only use routes officially designated by Iran. The Iranian military arm said it was prompted to issue this advisory in response to reports that a new shipping lane was opened without prior consultation with Tehran.
A memorandum of understanding enacted by Washington and Tehran on June 17 states that Iran will facilitate “the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.” Under the deal, Iranian leadership further committed to removing mines and other military obstacles from the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days of the start of the deal.
How transit through the strait will be administered in the long term is the subject of further negotiations. The memorandum of understanding states Iran is to consult with Oman—which sits on the opposite side of the maritime chokepoint—to “define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states, in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
