The US military has struck Iranian facilities after President Donald Trump accused Iran of a “stupid violation” of the ceasefire following an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
There were no reports of casualties when the ship was shot down by a one-way drone on Thursday, an incident that prompted the planned evacuation of thousands of sailors stranded in the region.
In response, the US Central Command said on Friday that it had struck missile and drone caches, as well as coastal radar positions. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) blamed the US and Israel.
Minutes before the strikes were announced, Trump said, “You’ll see,” when asked if the U.S. would retaliate against Iran.
US Central Command – or Centcom – described the strikes as a “strong response” to the drone attack.
“The unjustified aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces has clearly violated the ceasefire,” the statement said.
“Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior has undermined freedom of navigation as trade increasingly passes through a vital international trade corridor.”
Centcom said the US military will “continue to provide safe passage coordination and support for commercial vessels transiting the strait”.
It is unclear at this point whether the US attacks were isolated or part of a broader, sustained response.
Later on Friday, IRGC said: “The US regime, in violation of the treaty, as always violated its obligations and launched an airstrike on the coast of the Islamic Republic of Iran under various pretexts that the ship violated an unauthorized route in the Strait of Hormuz.”
It added: “If aggression is repeated, our response will be more comprehensive than this.”
The IRGC also accused the “Zionist regime” – meaning Israel – of violating the ceasefire in Lebanon.
He came as Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement for a peace plan in Washington on Friday. Limited fighting has recently continued between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, despite an existing ceasefire.
Tehran effectively closed the strait after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran began in late February.
The closure of a critical waterway for oil and gas supplies has sent global oil prices soaring and halted the supply of other critical commodities such as fertilizer.
On June 17, the U.S. and Iran agreed to cease hostilities under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which also called on Iran to make “maximum efforts for the safe and free passage of commercial vessels within 60 days.”
In a message on X after the US retaliatory strikes, Vice President J. D. Vance said that if Iran “has a disagreement about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone.”
“But violence will be answered with violence,” he added.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump declined to be drawn into questions about how the U.S. might respond to the drone strike or whether he believed the ceasefire was in place.
– You will find out, – he said. “I don’t like that they took a shot yesterday. They shouldn’t do that.”
Asked why he thought Iran would carry out such an operation, Trump said only that “they’re a little different.”
In recent days, Trump and other U.S. officials have insisted that talks with Iran are going well, saying Iran has rejected any offer to charge a toll for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had informed the US that “no tolls, no insurance costs, no other payments will be collected or received.”
“If this is false information, the negotiations will be stopped immediately,” he added.
USA condemned reports that Iran was charging tankers passage through the strait, and many believe that any system of tolls is contrary to international maritime law.
Iranian and Omani officials held talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Tuesday to discuss “future management of navigation”, although Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi said both countries intended “free and safe passage”.
However, Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state news agencies that “everyone should know that the management of the Strait of Hormuz will never return to the way it was before the war.”
The cargo vessel hit on Thursday was the Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely.
According to the British maritime safety agency UKMTO, the ship was shot down 7.5 nautical miles southeast of the Omani port of Dakhit.
The Ever Lovely was following the UKMTO recommended route through the strait when it was struck, the ship’s owner, Evergreen, said.
“All crew members remain safe, as does the vessel itself and all cargo,” he added.
In response, the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) suspended the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 seafarers stranded on the key sea route since the war began.
