Iran said it has attacked US military targets in the Middle East region in response to US attacks around the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions over the vital waterway strain a peace agreement between the two countries.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that it had targeted US military positions, and the Foreign Ministry accused the US of violating the agreement, Iranian state media Press TV reported. The U.S. military has not confirmed the attack, but it is the first exchange since the memorandum of understanding was signed last week.
CNN has reached out to the White House and CENTCOM for comment.
Bahrain, which hosts U.S. military bases, reported an Iranian drone attack on its territory early Saturday. The country’s foreign ministry condemned the airstrike as a “flagrant violation of Bahrain’s sovereignty.” The goals were unclear, and there was no initial comment from Tehran.
Meanwhile, a tanker was struck by an “unidentified projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). The UKMTO advised ships to navigate the area with caution and said the vessel had sustained damage but all crew members were uninjured.
The move is the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks centered around the strait, raising uncertainty about the U.S.-Iranian deal signed earlier this month that provides for a gradual restoration of normal maritime traffic.
The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC), overseen by the U.S. Navy, announced on Saturday that it had raised the threat level in the strait to “substantial” following the attack on a commercial vessel. Meanwhile, the route through the Strait of Hormuz near Oman has been expanded to allow for more simultaneous flows of maritime traffic in both directions, JMIC said, suggesting the US is pushing control of the waterway back to Iran.
Iran’s attack on Saturday came after the US military carried out strikes on Iranian military targets around the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. “U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar sites,” Centcom said in a statement. “The Iranian military’s unwarranted attack on a commercial vessel is a clear violation of the ceasefire.”
The escalation began with Iran’s attack on a commercial ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, which US President Donald Trump described as a “stupid violation” of the agreement ending the war with Iran. U.S. officials downplayed the possibility of escalation after the airstrikes, telling CNN that they do not reflect a return to large-scale combat operations, at least for now.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who played a leading role in negotiating the deal with Iran announced last week, said Friday night that “violence will be met with violence.”
The latest attacks have once again destabilized the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping points, amid a fragile memorandum of understanding signed by the United States and Iran.
The memorandum states that Iran will use its “best efforts to make arrangements” to ensure the safe passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, and that traffic in the strait will return to the same volume as before the war began. However, it did not provide detailed conditions for fulfilling the terms.
The two countries have different understandings of whether Iran can charge for vessel passage. President Trump has vowed to keep the strait toll-free, but Iran has insisted it has the right to charge ships passing through.
