Iran strikes US positions after American bombing of coastal sites, imperilling ceasefire
Tehran's Revolutionary Guard attacked US military positions near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hours after American warplanes bombed Iranian radar and missile sites in retaliation for a drone strike on a commercial vessel. The exchange threatens the fragile ceasefire signed on 17 June and endangers peace talks in Switzerland.
Tit-for-tat strikes
The latest escalation began on Thursday when Iranian drones struck the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely as it left the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. The US Central Command (Centcom) described the attack as a clear violation of the ceasefire that "undermined freedom of navigation." Late on Friday, American forces bombed coastal radar emplacements and missile and drone storage facilities in southern Iran. Local media reported explosions at the port of Sirik in Hormozgan province and a projectile impact on the Taherouyeh dock, without casualties.
This is a forceful response to yesterday's unjustified aggression against commercial shipping.
On Saturday, the Revolutionary Guard's navy announced it had struck "several points where the terrorist US military was positioned" in the region. The Guard warned that if US attacks continue, "our response will be more forceful."
Clause 5 dispute
Both sides accuse the other of breaching the Memorandum of Understanding concluded in Islamabad on 17 June. Iran invokes Clause 5, which it says gives the Islamic Republic control of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and insists the ship was sailing on an unauthorised route. Washington rejects that interpretation, with President Donald Trump calling the drone strike a reckless violation and Vice President JD Vance warning that "violence will be met with violence."
Obviously, this is a reckless violation of our ceasefire agreement.
Violence will be met with violence.
The head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, Ebrahim Azizi, described the US bombing as a "reckless violation of the ceasefire" and said Trump "has no commitment to the principles of negotiations."
Regional fallout
The flare-up has wider dimensions. Iran's foreign ministry simultaneously denounced Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming that the Israeli ally of the US is not respecting the truce set out in the memorandum. Tehran also warned Gulf states on the southern shore not to let their territory be used for aggression. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a partial withdrawal from two unspecified areas in Lebanon, a move rejected by Hezbollah.
- War between the United States and Iran begins.
- Ceasefire Memorandum of Understanding signed in Islamabad, including control over Strait of Hormuz transit.
- Iranian drones attack the merchant ship M/V Ever Lovely off the coast of Oman.
- US forces bomb radar sites, missile depots and drone storage in southern Iran in retaliation.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guard strikes multiple US military positions in the Strait of Hormuz region.
Peace process at risk
The United Nations suspended the programme that had allowed merchant vessels to transit the strait and permitted the gradual repatriation of mariners stranded in Iranian waters since the war started on 28 February. With the ceasefire now openly violated, the direct US-Iran negotiations that began last week in Switzerland, aimed at a definitive peace deal covering Tehran's nuclear programme, face their most serious setback. Maritime traffic through the chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil passes, remains disrupted.
