US says it struck targets in Iran over ‘continued aggression’ against shipping

The US military has launched further strikes on multiple targets in Iran, the US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed, a day after it had struck Iran in retaliation for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the strait of Hormuz.

Centcom said its strikes on Saturday were in “direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping”. The US strikes targeted “Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities”, Centcom said in a statement.

The flare-up in tensions comes as Washington and Tehran have been negotiating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end an unpopular war that has sent global oil prices skyrocketing and resulted in thousands of civilian deaths.

After the retaliatory strikes on Friday, the US military said it would continue to enforce the shaky ceasefire with Iran even as disagreements have emerged over the terms of Iran’s nuclear program, the question of tolls in the strait of Hormuz, and other thorny questions including Iran’s ballistic missiles program.

Trump posted to Truth Social in the wake of Saturday’s strikes. “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,” ⁠Trump wrote.

“If ​that happens, ​the Islamic ​Republic ‌of Iran ​will ​no longer exist.”

“After yesterday’s U.S. strikes in response to the Iranian attack on M/V Ever Lovely, Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit M/T Kiku this morning at 4:30 a.m. ET. The Panama-flagged tanker was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz with more than two-million barrels of crude oil,” Centcom said on Saturday. “Commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue. U.S. forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”

The MOU would result in an immediate and permanent end to all military operations in the US, Iran and Lebanon, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is based.

In a Friday social media post, JD Vance, the US vice-president, vowed: “Violence will be met with violence.”