The US military said it carried out fresh strikes on Iran on Saturday, the second consecutive day of American action, after Iran attacked another commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz — a turn that is testing a fragile truce reached on June 17.
What CENTCOM said
US Central Command said its aircraft targeted "Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelaying capabilities," and released video of the strikes, CNN reported. In its statement, CENTCOM said Iran "was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to," according to The Times of Israel. It did not provide casualty figures, and independent verification of any deaths or damage was not available.
The ship attacks that triggered it
The escalation traces to two attacks on shipping. On June 25, a one-way attack drone struck the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel Ever Lovely as it exited the strait along the Omani coast, which the US attributed to Iran; the United States then struck Iranian targets on Friday, NBC News reported. Early Saturday, a drone hit a second vessel — the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku — prompting Saturday's further US strikes. The strait is one of the world's most important oil-shipping chokepoints, and the safety of vessels transiting it has been a central flashpoint.
Iran's response
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck US military positions in the region in response, according to Iranian state media cited by Fox News, and Iran's foreign ministry accused Washington of violating the agreement. Those claims could not be independently confirmed. Separately, Bahrain — which hosts a US naval base — reported drone attacks on its territory on Saturday, attributing them to Iranian-linked forces; no casualties were reported.
A truce under strain
The two governments had reached a ceasefire understanding on June 17, intended to halt weeks of open hostilities and restore commercial traffic through the Gulf. The latest exchanges of fire are the most serious challenge to that deal so far. US President Donald Trump described Iran's ship attack as a violation of the agreement and, asked what Iran would face, said only, "You'll find out," CNN reported. Whether the understanding can survive the renewed cycle of strikes and counter-strikes was unclear as of publication.
