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The United States military carried out strikes against Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump accused Tehran of launching drone attacks on ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, US Central Command said American aircraft hit Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as coastal radar sites in response to Iran striking the M/V Ever Lovely ship with a one-way attack drone.
“The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack,” CENTCOM said, adding that Iranian forces had “clearly violated” the ceasefire agreement.
“Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor,” the statement continued. “CENTCOM forces continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait”.
Iranian state media reported that strikes hit a telecommunications mast in the Sirik area of southern Iran.
Earlier on Friday, Trump said Iran had launched “at least four” attack drones at ships moving through the Strait, which is one of the world’s most important oil and gas transit chokepoints.
“One of the drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive cargo carrying Ship. Damage was done, but the ship was able to proceed on its way. We knocked down three other drones,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said the US strikes showed Trump had “no commitment to the principles of negotiation or a ceasefire”.
“This reckless violation of the ceasefire will, as always, lead to retreat and regret on their part,” he wrote in a post on social media.
Washington and Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire and to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz under their “memorandum of understanding” earlier this month. The two sides have since clashed over who controls the waterway.
Under the terms of the provisional agreement, the US is required to remove its naval blockade of Iran while Tehran must reopen the Strait. Iran also “reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons”. It gave the two countries 60 days to achieve a final deal.