The U.S. military said Saturday it had struck multiple targets in Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war’s uneasy ceasefire.
U.S. Central Command Statement
U.S. Central Command, in a post to social media, said that U.S. military aircraft targeted Iranian military ‘surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities’ following an attack on a merchant vessel early on Saturday morning.
The ongoing strikes in the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict.
President Trump’s Statement
In a social media post, Trump said the U.S. had ‘struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!’ He warned of a point where the U.S. may no longer be able to be reasonable ‘and will be forced to militarily complete the job.’
‘If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The incident follows a similar back and forth that occurred just days prior when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated with strikes the next day.
Attack on Oil Tanker
U.S. Central Command said that in this latest attack Iranian forces attacked the oil tanker Kiku with a one-way drone. The tanker was laden with more than two million barrels of crude oil and sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to ship tracking websites, the Kiku left a Qatari oil field in the middle of the Persian Gulf earlier in the week and was bound for a port in the United Arab Emirates that sits on the Gulf of Aman, just on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz.
It appeared to be attempting to use a route that was established near the coast of Oman that is serving as an alternative to the route sanctioned by Iran that runs through its own waters.
International Response
A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand the Omani route to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic, likely setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran, which sees the strait as a key source of leverage in ongoing talks with the U.S.
The U.S. military said that ‘Iran had a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement’ but ‘elected not to’ when its forces attacked the Kiku.
Iran state TV reported explosions in an area just north of the Strait of Hormuz.
Bahrain’s Response
Earlier on Saturday, a statement from Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said a ‘number of Iranian drones’ targeted the country. It called the attack ‘a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.’ There were no immediate reports of damage.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency saying it had targeted several locations ‘of the U.S. terrorist army in the region.’ It did not name what areas were targeted.
Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.
