US conducts retaliatory strikes on Iran after second shipping attack

Image source, Reuters By Tabby Wilson Published 4 minutes ago The US has conducted new strikes on Iran, following a drone attack on a Panama-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. US Central Command (Centcom) said it hit multiple targets across Iran in direct response to "continued aggression" against commercial shipping, including military equipment, communication systems, air defense sites and drone storage facilities. "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 MT Kiku," a Panama-flagged tanker, it said in a statement. Commercial vessels are continuing to operate in the Strait of Hormuz, Centcom said. Iran is yet to comment on the latest strikes. The latest strikes come less than a day after the US launched retaliatory strikes on Iran that it said were in response to a drone attack on Singapore-flagged cargo ship, MV Ever Lovely, on 25 June. Centcom described the American strikes as "a powerful response" to the attack on the cargo ship, adding that the "unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire". Tehran said the cargo ship was attacked because it was using an unauthorised route to transit through the Gulf waterway, and said that the retaliatory strikes qualified as a ceasefire violation by the US. In a statement released on Saturday morning, Iran's foreign ministry said it had carried out more strikes against targets linked to American forces in response, and blamed the "treaty-breaking US regime" for the situation. The US and Iran agreed on 17 June to end hostilities under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, which had also called for Iran to use its "best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days". The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for oil and gas shipments, and was effectively closed by Tehran after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February. The shutdown of the critical channel caused a spike in global oil prices and prevented shipments of other crucial commodities such as fertiliser. US-Iran memorandum of understanding in full Published 18 June In recent days, Trump and other US officials insisted negotiations with Iran were progressing well, saying Iran had given up any suggestion of tolling vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had informed the US that there would be "no tolls, no insurance costs and no other charges of any kind being sought or received". "If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately," he added. The US has condemned reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the strait, and many see any tolling system as breaking with international maritime law. On Tuesday, Iranian and Omani officials held talks in Oman's capital of Muscat to discuss "the future management of navigation", although Omani Foreign M