US and Iran trade strikes as Hormuz tensions test new deal
Washington said it hit Iranian military sites after a ship attack, while Tehran accused the US of violating a recent memorandum of understanding.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
The United States and Iran exchanged military action for the first time since reaching a memorandum of understanding last week, Al Jazeera reported. The confrontation raises pressure on a fragile diplomatic track just days before another round of talks between the two governments.
US Central Command said it struck Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar facilities. The US military said the operation answered a drone attack a day earlier on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump accused Iran of carrying out that attack.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the US strikes and said they breached Article 1 of the memorandum of understanding, according to Al Jazeera. Iranian state media reported that a projectile landed near a pier in Sirik, a city close to the Strait of Hormuz, and that Qeshm island was also hit.
Tehran says the deal was violated
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said it responded on Friday by targeting places in the region where US forces are deployed. Al Jazeera reported that there were no confirmed reports of US targets being hit at the time of publication.
The IRGC accused Washington of breaking its commitments under the memorandum. The force also said the deal gives Tehran control over ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy routes.
Mehr news agency quoted an official in charge of ports in eastern Hormozgan province as saying the Sirik port had not been damaged. Ebrahim Azizi, who heads Iran’s parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote on X that the US had attacked Iran while negotiations were under way, according to Al Jazeera.
Washington defends the strikes
CENTCOM released video that it said showed the strikes on Iran. Vice President JD Vance warned that “violence will be met with violence” after the US operation, according to Al Jazeera.
Trump described the attack on the commercial ship near Hormuz as a “foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.” Azizi responded that Iran governs the strait and that vessels should follow rules and use secure routes, Al Jazeera reported.
The National Iranian American Council, a US-based advocacy group, said it was “dismayed and concerned” by both the ship attack and the US response. The group said Washington and Tehran should use diplomatic channels rather than military force while talks are under way.
Hormuz and Lebanon remain flashpoints
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the United Nations wants to see a “sustained” opening of the Strait of Hormuz and urged parties to meet commitments in signed agreements. Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas, reporting from Tehran, said there had been discussion of a communication channel between the US and Iran to address tensions in the strait, but the IRGC said no such channel exists and would not be set up.
Atas said Iranian officials view the Strait of Hormuz as a major source of leverage in talks with Washington. The waterway had been effectively blocked since the war began in late February, according to Al Jazeera, and a provisional peace deal was meant to reopen it to shipping traffic.
The tensions are playing out alongside US-backed diplomacy involving Israel and Lebanon. The US State Department released a framework agreement under which Israel’s military would progressively redeploy out of Lebanese territory after non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah, are disarmed. Hezbollah rejected the deal, and Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported that opponents in Beirut objected because the text does not use the word “withdrawal.”
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.