American forces carried out additional strikes against multiple targets in Iran after Tehran’s latest attack on a commercial ship near the Strait of Hormuz, the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed Saturday.
CENTCOM said its forces conducted the strikes June 27 “at the Commander in Chief’s direction.”
It said the strikes came after Iranian forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit the M/T Kiku at 4.30 am ET (0830GMT) while the Panama-flagged tanker was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz with more than 2 million barrels of crude oil.
CENTCOM said Iran had been given a chance to honor a ceasefire agreement after US strikes the previous day in response to an Iranian attack on the M/V Ever Lovely, but “elected not to.”
“CENTCOM forces launched strikes today in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping,” it said.
US military aircraft targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities, it added.
The command said commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue, and that US forces “remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
US-based news outlet Axios had earlier reported, citing a US official, that the American military is conducting strikes on Iranian targets in the area of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for an Iranian attack on a commercial tanker.
Fox News, citing a senior US defense official, said Iran had reconstituted its air defense and missile systems along the Strait of Hormuz after the US bombing campaign ended April 7.
The official said that was why the US military had to restrike areas such as Qeshm Island and Sirik, which had been targeted in the past, according to the report.
“In the time since the ceasefire on 7 April, Iran has reconstituted — thus the targets around the Strait of Hormuz,” the official was quoted. “There is a LOT that is damaged … a LOT … but they moved things around.”
