UNIPA News(Dubai) 27 June — The United States launched military strikes on Iranian targets on Friday, June 26, following what Washington described as an Iranian drone attack on a commercial cargo vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz, marking a fresh escalation despite a ceasefire agreement reached last week.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American aircraft targeted Iranian missile and drone storage facilities, along with coastal radar installations, in what it described as a completed operation. According to the US military, the strikes were a direct response to the attack on commercial shipping, which it said violated the terms of the ceasefire.
Iran, however, disputed the US account, stating that a projectile struck the area around a pier in Sirik, a port in southern Iran. Iranian authorities said their naval forces subsequently targeted US military positions in the region, accusing Washington of breaching the ceasefire agreement.
US Vice President JD Vance said Washington had fully adhered to the ceasefire and warned that any use of force by Iran would trigger a military response.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honoured it. If they have disagreements about how the memorandum is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said.
Iranian state media, citing an unnamed military source, reported that naval forces in Sirik had fired warning shots and warning missiles at vessels allegedly violating regulations in the Strait of Hormuz before the US strikes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later said its navy had attacked locations hosting US military personnel in the region and warned that any further American military action would be met with a broader response.
The IRGC also asserted that the ceasefire agreement granted Iran authority over ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, while accusing the United States of provoking tensions and violating its commitments under the agreement.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, condemned the US operation, saying it demonstrated Washington’s failure to uphold the principles of negotiation and the ceasefire.
The latest military exchange occurred as oil markets reacted to developments in the Gulf. Oil prices fell by around three percent on Friday, extending weekly losses, as commercial tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumed. Shipping data also indicated that Saudi Aramco had restarted crude oil loadings at its Ras Tanura export terminal after a suspension lasting nearly four months.
Commercial shipments of fertilizers through the strategic waterway also increased, easing concerns over potential disruptions to global food supply chains.
