DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Saturday that it carried out strikes on several targets in Iran under orders from President Donald Trump, extending a series of attacks that have further strained the war’s fragile ceasefire.
In a social media statement, U.S. Central Command said American military aircraft hit Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” after an early Saturday attack on a merchant ship.
The continued strikes in the Persian Gulf underscore the risk that the Iran war could again spiral beyond control, despite an interim agreement between Tehran and Washington aimed at paving the way for a final deal to end the conflict.
Trump, posting on social media, said the United States had “struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” He cautioned that Washington could reach a point where it could no longer remain restrained “and will be forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The episode came after a similar exchange only days earlier, when an Iranian drone hit a merchant vessel off Oman’s coast on Thursday and the U.S. military answered with strikes the following day.
US says strikes were a response to Iranian attack on oil tanker
U.S. Central Command said the latest incident involved Iranian forces targeting the oil tanker Kiku with a one-way drone. The tanker was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Ship-tracking websites showed the Kiku had departed a Qatari oil field in the central Persian Gulf earlier in the week and was headed to a United Arab Emirates port on the Gulf of Oman, just beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
It appeared to be attempting to use a route that was established near the coast of Oman that is serving as an alternative to the route sanctioned by Iran that runs through its own waters.
A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand the Omani route to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic, likely setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran, which sees the strait as a key source of leverage in ongoing talks with the U.S.
The U.S. military said that “Iran had a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement” but “elected not to” when its forces attacked the Kiku.
Iran state TV reported explosions in an area just north of the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain condemns Iran’s drone attack
Earlier on Saturday, a statement from Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said a “number of Iranian drones” targeted the country. It called the attack “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.” There were no immediate reports of damage.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency saying it had targeted several locations “of the U.S. terrorist army in the region.” It did not name what areas were targeted.
Bahrain has been one of the strongest critics of Iran and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. It just hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s foreign ministers, which ended with a call for an end to Iran’s attacks and for the strait to be completely open.
Overnight into Saturday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it had struck Iranian missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who has led the negotiations with Iran, said on social media Friday night that Iran should “pick up the phone” if there are disagreements about the ceasefire agreement, “but violence will be met with violence.”
The U.S. and Iran are negotiating terms of the deal including issues such as getting ships through the strait that’s vital to global supplies of oil and natural gas and addressing the future of Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details. Ending the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group is a key part of the deal.
Ship comes under attack as strait route expands
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said that a tanker was attacked Saturday in the strait, with the crew safe and no environmental damage reported. No one immediately claimed the strike, but suspicion fell on Iran.
Just after that report, the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the U.S. Navy, said the route near Oman’s shore is expanding to allow for inbound and outbound traffic.
Iran has insisted that ships must obey its orders and warned it will start charging fees for transit through the strait. However, ships have been increasingly trying to leave the Gulf in recent days.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, wrote Friday that “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules.”
The U.S. and Gulf Arab states have rejected Iran’s demands. The strait is considered as an international waterway, despite being the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.
The Joint Maritime Information Center warned that the threat to ships was “substantial,” adding that “mariners are advised of the existence of mines and should expect a naval presence as clearance operations continue.”
The International Maritime Organization on Friday halted a new effort to evacuate ships said it won’t resume until there are guarantees that the other ships won’t be attacked. It said about 115 ships have been able to move out of the strait in recent days.
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Toropin reported from Washington, Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
