The US military said Saturday that it carried out strikes on several targets in Iran on Donald Trump’s orders, as the President issued a fresh warning about the country’s future.
In a social media statement, US 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.
Trump praised the operation and escalated his rhetoric toward Tehran in a Saturday evening post on Truth Social.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!”
“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” he added.
The renewed strikes in the Persian Gulf underscore the risk that the war with Iran could once again spiral beyond control, despite an interim understanding between Washington and Tehran aimed at paving the way for a final agreement to end the conflict.
The latest confrontation came after a similar exchange only days earlier, when an Iranian drone hit a merchant vessel off Oman on Thursday and US forces responded with strikes the following day.
US Central Command said Iranian forces used a one-way drone to attack the oil tanker Kiku.
The US military said Saturday it had struck multiple targets in Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war’s uneasy ceasefire
Trump celebrated the attack and continued to threaten Tehran in a post to his Truth Social account on Saturday evening
Hezbollah supporters block a road in the southern suburbs of Beirut with burning tires to protest against the trilateral agreement that was signed between the US, Israel and Lebanon
According to ship tracking websites, the Kiku left a Qatari oil field in the middle of the Persian Gulf earlier in the week and was bound for a port in the United Arab Emirates that sits on the Gulf of Aman, just on the other side of 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 US 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 US.
The tanker was laden with more than two million barrels of crude oil and sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US 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.
It comes just after Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain while a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack Saturday, in Tehran’s likely response to overnight airstrikes by the United States.
The attacks in the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the US reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict.
The tanker was laden with more than two million barrels of crude oil and sailing through the Strait of Hormuz
The US launched the overnight strikes in response to an Iranian drone attack on a container ship trying to leave the strait on Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war’s uneasy ceasefire.
Meanwhile, a multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the strait to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic.
That likely sets up a new flashpoint with Tehran, which sees the strait as a key source of leverage in ongoing talks with the US.
Bahrain has been one of the strongest critics of Iran and is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.
It just hosted 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.
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.
Tehran said US strikes violated the UN Charter and the war-ending memorandum between the two countries, according to a statement by its foreign ministry.
Iran did not identify the targets or say where they were located.
US Central Command, in a post to social media, said that US military aircraft targeted Iranian military ‘surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities’ following an attack on a merchant vessel early on Saturday morning
Iran´s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier on Saturday 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.
The US Central Command on Friday confirmed it had struck an Iranian missile and drone storage locations as well as radar sites along the Persian Gulf.
It came after Iran launched an explosive-laden suicide drone at a Singaporean cargo ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
The vessel sustained significant damage to its bridge, though no injuries or deaths have been confirmed.
Before the attack, Iran issued warnings through regime media to oil tankers, cautioning that routes through the strait were restricted and that other routes were ‘completely dangerous.’
When asked by reporters moments before the attack occurred how the President would respond, Trump replied: ‘You’ll see.’
The attack comes as the US and Iran delicately negotiate a long-term peace agreement that would limit the regime’s nuclear program.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last week, committed Iran to using its ‘best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days.’
The incident follows a similar back and forth that occurred just days prior when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman on Thursday and the US military retaliated with strikes the next day
The US and Iran are still negotiating terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of
Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.
US 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 US 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.
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 US 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 US 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.
