In this photo obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency on June 18, 2026, ships are seen moored in Bandar Abbas, along the Strait of Hormuz.
Amirhossein Kolgouei | AFP | Getty Images
On Saturday, the US military struck a number of targets in Iran after a commercial tanker was reportedly hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz.
The attack was the latest in heightened tensions between the two countries in recent days following an interim agreement aimed at ending hostilities in the region.
The U.S. military launched attacks on Iranian targets in the region, including “military surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and mine-laying capabilities,” according to an online statement from U.S. Central Command late Saturday.
Central Command said the attack was in retaliation for Iran’s attack on a commercial tanker earlier in the day.
“Iran was given the opportunity to abide by the cease-fire agreement, but chose not to do so this morning at 4:30 a.m. ET when Iranian military launched a one-way attack drone and attacked Kiku Central Air Base,” the statement said. “The Panamanian-flagged tanker was sailing near the Strait of Hormuz with more than 2 million barrels of crude oil on board.”
Bahrain also condemned the Iranian drone attack on Saturday as a “blatant violation” of its sovereignty.
Despite the barrage, Central Command said commercial ships continued to pass through the vital waterway.
The new attack comes as the United States and Iran are in talks to end the war and are set to sign a 60-day ceasefire. However, both sides have accused the other of violating the terms of the agreement.
The U.S. military attacked Iran on Friday after President Donald Trump accused the Islamic Republic of a “stupid violation” of a ceasefire agreement by launching drone attacks on ships in the strait. Central Command said the planes “hit Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar sites.”
This comes after an Iranian drone attack hit the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Ever Lovely in the Strait off the coast of Oman on Thursday, Central Command said in a post on X. The ship continued to transit the strait, which is a major oil transport artery.
The new attacks come more than a week after President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at creating a permanent peace deal to end the war between the two countries.
In response to the US attack, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement: “Following the violation of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon several hours ago, the treaty-violating US regime, as usual, reneged on its commitments and attacked the coast of the Islamic Republic of Iran with airstrikes under various pretexts, on the grounds that the violating vessels had passed through the unauthorized passage in the Strait of Hormuz.”
“The Revolutionary Guards Navy responded to this invasion by attacking the positions of the US terrorist forces in the region,” the Revolutionary Guards said.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of Iran’s parliament’s National Security Committee, said in a post on X that “the United States has attacked Iran again in the midst of negotiations.”
“The failed US president has shown no commitment to the principles of negotiations or ceasefire,” Azizi said.
“This reckless violation of the ceasefire will, as always, lead to withdrawal and regret on their part. The blame game no longer works.”
—CNBC’s Terry Cullen and Dan Mangan contributed to this report
