Cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz. (File Photo)
The United States military struck multiple targets inside Iran for a second consecutive night on Saturday, after Iranian forces attacked another oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz the latest in a cycle of ship attacks and military strikes that is pushing a fragile ceasefire to the edge of collapse.
The Panama-flagged tanker MT Kiku was hit by a one-way attack drone at 4:30am Eastern time while carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil through the strait. The vessel had left a Qatari oil field earlier in the week and was bound for a port in the United Arab Emirates. No crew were hurt and no cargo leaked.
A senior US official told Fox News the response was deliberately scaled up.
BREAKING: The U.S. military launched a new round of airstrikes against Iranian targets Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) attacked another commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to Fox News.
“It’s a larger strike than last night,” the official said. “Iran had a chance to stop shooting and they didn’t take it. Instead, they attacked another ship in Hormuz this morning.”
The US military response
US Central Command said the strikes were carried out at President Donald Trump’s direction, targeting Iranian surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defence sites, drone storage facilities and minelaying equipment. Iran’s state television reported explosions in an area just north of the Strait of Hormuz. Blasts were also reported near the port of Sirik in southern Iran and on Qeshm Island.
“CENTCOM forces launched strikes today in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping,” the command said in a statement from Tampa, Florida.
“After yesterday’s US strikes in response to the Iranian attack on M/V Ever Lovely, Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement,” it said. “Iran elected not to.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said separately that it had struck several locations of what it called the “US terrorist army in the region,” without naming the sites. Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, said a number of Iranian drones had targeted the country in what its foreign ministry called “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”
How the pattern developed
Saturday’s events followed an almost identical sequence to Friday’s. On Thursday, the Singapore-registered container ship Ever Lovely was struck by a drone while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. No one on board was injured. President Trump called the attack a “foolish violation” of a ceasefire memorandum signed on 17 June. By Friday evening the US had struck targets near Sirik, and Iran hit back against US military installations in the region.
With Iran then striking the MT Kiku on Saturday morning, the tit-for-tat exchange entered a second day. The Associated Press (AP) described the ongoing strikes as showing “the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the US reached an interim deal.”
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Why the strait matters
At the heart of the dispute is control of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which close to 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply passes, along with large volumes of natural gas and fertiliser.
After the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February, Tehran moved to shut the strait to commercial traffic, sending global fuel prices sharply higher. The 17 June memorandum was designed to ease that pressure. It called for an immediate end to military operations and required Iran to allow commercial vessels to transit the strait freely for 60 days.
Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman. (Photo: Reuters)
Iran has since insisted that all ships must seek its approval before passing through including vessels using a route near Oman’s coastline that has emerged as an alternative to Iran’s own sanctioned corridor.
On Saturday, the Joint Maritime Information Centre, overseen by the US Navy, announced it would expand that Omani route to allow both inbound and outbound traffic, a move likely to deepen tensions with Tehran.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, wrote on Friday: “The Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules.”
CENTCOM said commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was continuing with US military backing. “US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” the command said.
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Cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz. (File Photo) 
