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US strikes Iran after ship attack
U.S. forces struck Iranian targets on Friday in response to an attack on a commercial ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said, after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on Thursday with a one-way attack drone.
“Secretary of State Rubio said the agreement reached Friday between Israel and Lebanon "begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security”
CENTCOM said U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites, and President Donald Trump said at the White House shortly before the U.S. strike, “I don’t like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them.”
The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack, and the U.S. said the “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire.”
The strikes came as the U.S. and Iran were working to reopen the pivotal waterway under an interim understanding, and the U.S. military said it would continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait.
Trump, Azizi clash over ceasefire
Trump framed the drone attack as a ceasefire breach, telling reporters “You’ll find out” whether the U.S. would respond shortly before the strikes, while U.S. Central Command said the military struck missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites in Iran.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, responded earlier Friday on social media, writing, “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules” and to “not mistake control for escalation.”
The BBC reported that the U.S. strike was in response to a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the strait, and the Guardian also described the U.S. action as a response to Tehran’s attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
CBS News said the strikes targeted Iranian missile and drone storage facilities and radar sites, and it quoted CENTCOM calling the action a “powerful response” to Iran’s “dangerous behavior.”
Shipping, talks, and leverage at risk
The U.S. strikes landed during a fragile period for U.S.-Iran negotiations, with the International Maritime Organization halting evacuations after the attack and saying on Friday they won’t resume until there are guarantees that the other ships won’t be attacked.
“The US military conducted strikes on Friday against Iranian military targets around the Strait of Hormuz in response to Tehran’s Thursday attack against a commercial vessel near the key waterway, according to US Central Command”
Arsenio Dominguez, the International Maritime Organization’s secretary-general, said about 115 ships were able to move out of the strait in recent days, leaving about 500 still in the area, and the U.S. and Iran were still negotiating terms of the deal including getting ships through the key strait.
The agreement gave the two sides 60 days to work out the details, and the U.S. said it must arrange for safe, toll-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz “using its best efforts” for 60 days while Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said any passage outside its framework would not be covered by safe passage guarantees.
CNN reported that Friday’s U.S. strikes do not reflect a return to major combat operations, at least for now, and it said Trump would only tell reporters in the Oval Office, “You’ll find out,” when asked whether Iran would face any consequences.
