President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran violated a ceasefire agreement when it attacked a container ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.
The U.S. responded with strikes on Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites, U.S. Central Command said Friday afternoon.
“The U.S. military remains present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect,” CENTCOM said, reiterating that Iran had broken the peace deal.
Trump called the Iranian attack “foolish” but did not indicate what the attack means for ongoing peace talks between the two countries. The Iranian strike on the ship is the first known attack on a vessel in the strait since Iran and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17.
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“One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship. Damage was done, but the Ship was able to proceed on its way,” Trump said on social media. “We knocked down three other drones. Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The MOU between the U.S. and Iran stipulates that for 60 days as negotiations continue, “the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge” and that traffic should “immediately start.”
Traffic through the strait has increased since the agreement was signed, and oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels since the war began, but it remains to be seen how the attack could impact traffic through the crucial and contested waterway.
Despite the MOU and continued talks with the U.S., Iran has continued to assert control over the strait.
“The only authorised transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz are those designated by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the country’s Revolutionary Guard said, warning that an Omani-designated route through the strait had not been approved by Iran.
The ship struck by Iran was traveling on the Omani route.
Asked for comment on the dispute between Iran and Oman, before the Iranian attack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S.’s top concern was the flow of ships.
“If ships are moving as they should be moving, then that’s what we’re going to judge, and that’s what we’re going to react to,” he said. “If, on the other hand, this rhetoric is backed up by actual ships being threatened and ships are not moving, that’s a violation of the agreement, and we’re going to have a problem with it.”
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