WASHINGTON — American warplanes bombed targets along Iran's southern coast on Friday after President Donald Trump accused Tehran of violating a ceasefire agreement between the two sides by launching drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz a day before.
"US aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone," the Pentagon's headquarters for the Middle East, US Central Command, confirmed.
"The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack," CENTCOM said.
Earlier on Friday, Trump accused Iran of firing four drones at commercial ships in the strait in the incident, three of which he said were intercepted by the US military. Iranian officials have not explicitly claimed responsibility for the attack, but have warned that they cannot guarantee the safety of ships that do not comply with its demands to coordinate their crossings of the strait with Iranian authorities.
The attack on the Ever Lovely damaged the ship's bridge, but its crew did not report any injuries, the UK's Maritime Trade Operations reported Thursday. The incident forced the UN’s maritime agency to pause and reassess its mission to guide more than 11,000 stranded ships through Hormuz, which kicked off just two days before.
