Iran retaliates after US airstrikes on its southern coast, calling ceasefire a 'flagrant violation'
Iran condemned US airstrikes on its southern coast Friday evening as a 'flagrant violation' of a June 17 ceasefire protocol, then retaliated with attacks in the Gulf, while Bahrain said it was targeted by Iranian drones.
US strikes escalate ten days after ceasefire
The US military launched airstrikes on several sites on Iran's southern coast on Friday evening, June 26, the first known American strikes on Iranian territory since the two countries signed a protocol agreement on June 17 aimed at ending the Middle East war. The Pentagon said the strikes were a response to an earlier drone attack on a merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, which US President Donald Trump described as a "stupid violation" of the ceasefire in force.
It is a stupid violation of the ceasefire, and we responded last night.
Iran denounces 'flagrant violation' and hits back
Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday, June 27, "strongly condemned the airstrikes carried out by the American terrorist army... against several sites on the southern coast of Iran," calling them a "flagrant violation of paragraph 4 of article 2 of the UN Charter and a flagrant violation of paragraph 1 of the protocol agreement" signed in mid-June. Hours after the US strikes, Iran's Revolutionary Guards reported launching retaliatory attacks on targets in the Gulf.
If the aggression repeats, our response will be broader than that.
Bahrain reports Iranian drone attacks
Bahrain announced Saturday that it had been targeted by several Iranian drones, accusing Tehran of "sabotaging peace efforts." The incident marks an expansion of the exchange beyond direct US-Iran confrontation and raises the risk of wider regional spillover as the two sides were still negotiating a broader final agreement.
The Strait of Hormuz at the center
The tit-for-tat strikes have refocused attention on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a significant share of global oil passes. Both Washington and Tehran have previously stressed the importance of keeping the strait open, but Friday's events, the first US strikes on Iranian soil since the June 17 protocol, test whether the ceasefire framework can be preserved.
- US and Iran sign protocol agreement to end the Middle East war.
- US airstrikes hit several sites on Iran's southern coast in response to a drone attack on a merchant ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
- President Trump calls the Iranian drone attack a 'stupid violation' of the ceasefire.
- Iran announces retaliatory strikes in the Gulf and condemns the US attacks as a 'flagrant violation' of the UN Charter and the protocol.
- Bahrain says it was targeted by several Iranian drones, accusing Tehran of sabotaging peace efforts.
