United States Central Command has carried out strikes on Iranian missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions in response to an Iranian drone attack on a commercial cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM stated.
The strikes, conducted on 26 June, followed the previous day’s attack on the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely, which was struck by a one-way attack drone while exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast. In a statement released from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, the command said: “U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes against Iran, June 26, as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone.”
CENTCOM said the Iranian strike on the cargo ship had violated the standing ceasefire between the two sides. “The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” the command said. “Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”
The command added that its forces continued to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait, with the statement saying: “CENTCOM forces continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait. The U.S. military remains present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect.”
The earlier drone strike on the Ever Lovely did not produce reported casualties, but the incident prompted a planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors in the region from the wider merchant fleet operating in the area. Moments before the US strikes were announced, President Donald Trump told reporters that “you’ll see” when asked whether the United States would respond to the Iranian attack, with Trump having earlier accused Iran of what he called a foolish violation of the truce.
Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis told the RUSI Land Warfare Conference earlier this week that British armed forces were among those readying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, citing the task alongside other operational demands including the protection of the seabed in the High North and the securing of the skies in the Middle East.
Trump’s winning again 🤔
Yes, he is the only one doing anything about it . All others prefer their heads fully buried in sand.
So much winning
Trump started another US boondoggle in the Middle East. His mess to clean up!
Doing anything about what? The USA’s ill-thought out war they’re busy losing?
Hmmm … uncertain whether the Mullahs and IRGC understand the concept of a cease-fire. Undoubtedly, however, they comprehend the concept of overwhelming force. Perhaps a very direct statement to the Iranians that their communication, energy production, energy generation, transportation, etc., systems could be in immediate jeopardy, would produce a more cooperative environment. And yes, perfectly aware that I would never be a successful diplomat.
Suggest the US needs to hand over the process of sorting the shipping issue to the UK. We do have strong diplomatic ties in the region.
The UK would lead a global partnership to resolve this issue – which would obviously include the US.
This would give the Iranians an excuse to back off a bit. Currently it’s not working.
Haha! that worked so well for Lebanon…
Not aware that any such efforts have been attempted as yet to not work …
You sound like a brainless politician. Iran wouldn’t give a shit what the UK would have to say. As with Russia, appeasement never works and them attacking this ship proves they don’t give a damn about ceasefires or agreements
It’s called diplomacy, comes after a conflict and does not generally involve politicians. Never mentioned appeasement or dodgy ceasefires / agreements imposed by one party. This is why most such things are negotiated by third parties in place like Switzerland.
Your comment Sir is quite frankly for the birds.
That maybe your current view. However all parties to this conflict plus the rest of the world will want an end to this (plus the underlying issues and have done for decades). Time the world addressed the issue one way or another. Everyone has much to gain.
“America First”. 🤦♂️
yet not America’s first failed policy in the Middle East.
The US/Israel should have kept the military campaign going.
Clearly the IRGC capabilities have not been degraded enough for them not to be a threat.
Nothing will change until the current Iranian regime is gone.
Israel should kill as many Hezbollah as possible before they are forced to stop by the US.
Iran can be dealt with later
I’m surprised that the Iranians still have “coastal radar sites” after the weeks of sustained strikes. Do they keep radar wrapped up hidden and wheel it out like their Drones?
Iran as a Country, Is a nightmare for any attacker due to It’s rugged mountainous geological make-up.
It’s kept any sane western leader from trying to exert Influence for many decades.
Here we can see just how difficult It Is to subdue.
I suspect they have plenty of redundancy/spares in their military warehouses
plus the industrial capacity and the political will to fight a long war of attrition.
In that sense Iran has won, because the US started counting the financial cost of ordinance spent and hardware lost
and decided a blockade was a cheaper means to pressure Iran.
Any new funds the Iranian regime gets its hands on will be spent rebuilding the military losses.
It has been preparing for this for a long time. Closing the straits has been it’s deterrent.
Trump can’t defeat or control algae in a Washington pond, he hasn’t a hope defeating Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
The drone strike achieved the strategic goal, and no amount of retaliatory strikes will change or reverse that fact.
The US is losing this war.
Not sure What a win would look like for Either Side..my guess this is what we’ll see for some time..ultimately Gulf nations will find other ways of getting their gas’n’oil out of the Gulf…!
Perhaps countries like Oman, Saudi, Syria, and Turkey may land up the winners