US strikes Iran in response to drone strike on merchant ship | US-Israel War on Iran News

The United States has resumed its attack on Iran, in response to what happened yesterday when a cargo ship was hit by an Iranian drone.

On Friday, the US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said it had issued a “strong response to yesterday’s attack”.

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“US warplanes have struck Iranian weapons depots and drones as well as coastal radar sites,” CENTCOM said.

“Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as trade flows through an important global trade route.”

US strikes were reported near Iran’s southern port of Sirik after the announcement.

President Donald Trump had previously warned that he would consider Thursday’s attack on the Singapore-registered cruise ship Ever Lovely. “stupid violation” of the June 17 memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the US and Iran.

That memorandum called for an “eternal” end to “military hostilities on all sides, including in Lebanon”, effectively stopping the war that the US and Israel launched against Iran on February 28.

The memorandum was not final but was designed as a precursor to further discussions, including the increased traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, an important trade route for the world.

Since the start of the war, Iran has blocked traffic, forcing the price of oil, fertilizer and other commodities to skyrocket.

The memorandum of understanding was created to begin a 60-day period during which Iran was accused of making “efforts” to allow merchant ships to pass without payment.

But the cessation of hostilities has been difficult, as Israel continues to bomb Lebanon, in violation of the memorandum of understanding.

Iran, in response, said last week that it would close the Strait of Hormuz once again because of the violence in Lebanon.

On Thursday, Ever Lovely was passing through a waterway, near the coast of Oman, when it was hit by a projectile. No crew members were injured, and the ship was able to continue its journey.

But Mr Trump criticized Iran, saying that the country had “fired four One Way Attack Drones at Ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz”. He said he shot down three drones, but the fourth one hit its target.

“One of the Drones hit the top of a huge and expensive freighter,” Trump tweeted about Ever Lovely on Friday. post.

Later, at a press conference, reporters asked Trump if the ceasefire that was written in the June 17 memorandum was still in place.

“I don’t like that they shot yesterday,” he said, before summarizing the damage to Ever Lovely. They shouldn’t have done that, so you’ll know.

In Friday wordsCENTCOM confirmed that the Trump administration saw the attack on Ever Lovely disrupt the memorial.

“The unwarranted aggression against Iranian commercial and military shipments clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM wrote.

“Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior has undermined freedom of navigation as trade flows through an important international trade route.”

The US military pledged to “continue to provide safe passage” to all commercial vessels in the strait, and called on all parties to comply with the memorandum.

Al Jazeera reporter Kimberly Halkett explained that Friday’s attack should be seen as a setback for the White House. But he said the US response so far appears to be more restrained than in the past.

“There is no doubt that the fact that the United States has taken such a serious step, shows that the US is making a distinction between an Iranian attack on a merchant ship versus an attack on a US warship,” Halkett said.

“But there is a fear in Washington, no doubt, of an increased risk because of this.”

Alan Eyre, the former US ambassador, said Friday’s attack proved how strong the end of the war was – and how the memorandums of understanding were written.

“The MOU was a one-and-a-half page document where the ambiguity was a feature and not a flaw,” he said. “There were a lot of gaps to fill in later.”

This led to a dispute over how ships would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Erye said Iran had agreed to allow traffic to resume – but only under his own permission. This conflicted with the US vision of the Strait.

“They don’t want to see a new system put in place where every ship that goes through the river has to communicate with the IRGC and the Iranian authorities,” Eyre said.

“This only shows that there is a high risk of ships traveling through the route if they do not do so through the Iranian route and Iran has sufficient military power to threaten ships using the Omani channel.”