U.S. Central Command said Friday it carried out airstrikes against Iran in response to a drone attack a day earlier on the Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. aircraft reportedly struck Iranian missile and drone storage facilities as well as coastal radar sites.
Central Command called the attack on the commercial vessel a clear violation of the ceasefire. Vice President JD Vance said Iran should raise any dispute over the agreement through diplomatic channels, warning that Washington would “respond to violence with violence.”
Iran rejected the U.S. account, accusing Washington of violating the ceasefire through its airstrikes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had retaliated against several U.S. military bases in the region, though the extent of any damage was not immediately clear.
Tehran also argued that the United States had ignored procedures governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz before attacking Iranian coastal territory.
The confrontation exposed a key weakness in the MOU signed on June 17.
Under the agreement, the two sides pledged to halt military operations, restore commercial shipping through the strait and pursue follow-up talks on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief. But differences over transit rights and control of the waterway have already emerged.
For Washington, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is central to the deal. The waterway is a vital route for Middle Eastern oil and liquefied natural gas, and renewed disruption could unsettle global energy markets and supply chains.
Iran, meanwhile, appears eager to show that it did not accept the agreement from a position of weakness and to preserve its leverage ahead of future nuclear and sanctions negotiations.
Neither side has much to gain from a return to full-scale war. The United States faces political and economic risks from renewed conflict, while Iran would be reluctant to sacrifice the prospect of sanctions relief.
The greater danger is miscalculation. Repeated attacks on ships, military facilities or U.S. bases could cause casualties and trigger a broader escalation, particularly with Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah still shaping the regional security environment.
Unless Washington and Tehran clarify the rules governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz and the limits of military retaliation, the MOU could remain vulnerable to collapse.
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