This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman?s northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27. AFP-Yonhap
DUBAI/WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said it struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, in the worst escalation since the two sides signed an interim peace deal two weeks ago. Each of the warring sides has accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict.
U.S. Central Command said on Saturday its forces carried out fresh strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone early on Saturday. In Iran, state broadcaster IRIB said early Sunday local time that explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without providing further details.
"Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to," U.S. Central Command said in a statement. It said the strikes were "in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping" and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.
A U.S. defense official later reported that the strikes on Iranian targets were complete, according to Fox News.
