Srinagar – The United States launched air strikes on Iranian military targets on Friday in retaliation for what it said was an Iranian drone attack on a commercial cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iran to fire back at US positions in the region and pushing a fragile ceasefire agreement between the two countries to its most serious crisis yet.
The exchange marked the biggest challenge so far to the interim memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed a week ago, under which Washington and Tehran agreed to work toward a permanent settlement to months of conflict while reopening the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump defended the strikes, saying Iran had violated the ceasefire.
“I don’t like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them,” Trump told reporters at the White House shortly before the operation.
Asked why military action was being taken while negotiations with Tehran were continuing, Trump replied: “They’re a little bit different.”
Earlier, when asked whether the United States would respond, Trump had said only: “You’ll find out.”
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it struck Iranian missile and drone sites as well as coastal radar installations used to monitor maritime traffic.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the operation concluded roughly an hour after it began.
Iran says US strikes violated MOU
Iran denied targeting civilian shipping and accused Washington of breaching commitments made under the recently signed MoU.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed U.S. accusations and defended Tehran’s control over the strategic waterway.
“The Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules,” Azizi wrote on social media.
“This is not a violation of the ceasefire; it is ceasefire management.”
Iran has repeatedly insisted that all vessels transiting Hormuz comply with navigation procedures announced after the reopening of the waterway.
Media in Tehran also rejected allegations that Iran had attacked the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel MV Ever Lovely, describing them as baseless and warning against attempts to implicate Iran through what it called possible “false flag” operations.
IRGC says retaliation targets US military
Hours after the American strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced retaliatory attacks against US military positions in the region.
In a statement carried by Press TV, the IRGC said its forces had targeted “deployment sites of the U.S. terrorist military in the region” in response to what it described as American aggression against Iran’s coastal areas.
The force accused Washington of following a “pattern of breaching its commitments” under the bilateral memorandum of understanding.
According to the statement, the United States used “various pretexts, including the passage of a non-compliant vessel through an unauthorised route in the Strait of Hormuz” to justify its strikes.
“It has now received the necessary response,” the statement said.
“The same will apply to any future violations.”
The IRGC warned that if similar attacks were repeated, “our response will be broader than this.”
Attack disrupts shipping recovery
The latest escalation came after British maritime authorities reported that a container ship had been struck by a projectile off the coast of Oman on Thursday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said no injuries were reported.
The incident occurred as international agencies were attempting to restore commercial navigation through the Strait of Hormuz following months of disruption caused by the conflict.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said it had temporarily suspended efforts to escort stranded vessels out of the Gulf after the latest attack.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said around 115 ships had safely departed the area in recent days, but approximately 500 vessels remained in or around the strait awaiting safer conditions.
The organisation said evacuation operations would resume only after adequate security guarantees were received.
Shipping analysts said the latest violence threatened to reverse growing confidence among commercial operators returning to the world’s most important energy chokepoint.
Marine intelligence company Windward said the attack represented “the first significant test” of the reopening process.
“A week of widening commercial confidence in the Strait of Hormuz has hit its first significant test,” the company said.
Although 43 vessels successfully transited the waterway after Thursday’s attack, analysts said the pace of recovery had slowed considerably.
On Wednesday, 78 vessels passed through Hormuz — the highest number since the conflict began — though still well below the pre-war average of around 130 daily transits.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence reported that at least two tankers reversed course after Iran instructed vessels to use only Tehran-approved navigation routes, while more than two dozen others continued using the southern corridor near Oman.
Talks continue under fragile truce
Despite Friday’s military exchange, negotiations under the interim agreement remain formally in place.
The MoU gives Washington and Tehran 60 days to negotiate a comprehensive settlement covering Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, shipping security and the future of Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was one of the accord’s central provisions and had been expected to ease pressure on global energy markets by restoring one of the world’s busiest oil transit routes.
Friday’s confrontation, however, underscored the fragility of the agreement and the continuing risk that military incidents could derail efforts to transform the temporary truce into a lasting peace.
