Iran said it had reached targets linked to US forces on Saturday in response to a US attack on its southern coast, as each side continued to accuse the other of violating a deal last week aimed at ending the four-month-old war.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not identify the locations of the “defensive” strikes, which it said were in response to “uncontrollable airstrikes” by the US on its coast guard sites, which it said violated the UN Charter.
Later, Bahrain, which commands the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, condemned what it said was an Iranian drone attack on its territory as a clear violation of its sovereignty and a threat to its security, adding that it has the right to defend itself.
Washington did not immediately respond to Iran’s report of attacking American targets, which is a strategy that seeks to undermine America’s allies in the region during the conflict.
The US military said its strikes on Friday were in response to an Iranian airstrike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy supplies.
Iran asserts control over significant difficulties
In a separate development, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Both sides said the deal was the first step in requiring Hezbollah to disarm and Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, but it was unclear how it would be implemented. Hezbollah has said it will not cooperate.
Iranian state television said the country’s Revolutionary Guards had launched a “decisive response” after US forces struck a communications tower in the port city of Sirik.
Iran’s Mehr news agency said the port was operating normally and no damage was reported to facilities or equipment.
Bahrain has said that Iran’s continued aggression, despite efforts to destabilize the region and other countries, undermines peace and stability in the region. .
It also accused Tehran of violating UN Security Council Resolution 2817 and Islamabad’s June 17 memorandum of understanding.
Follow The Post’s latest news on the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and its lasting effects
After Thursday’s strike on a cargo ship off the coast of Oman, Iran denied responsibility.
Instead, it asserted its authority to control shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, said ships must follow routes designated by Tehran, warned the Gulf states against siding with Washington, and said the Iran-US interim agreement gave it the ability to control shipping through the strategic waterway.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the national security committee in Iran’s parliament, said on Saturday that any violation of Iranian shipping orders on the river would be resolved immediately.
The US Central Command condemned what it said was Thursday’s Iranian strike as “unjustifiable aggression against commercial shipping”, adding that the US would continue to provide “safe communications and support” to commercial ships passing through the strait – a route for a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG before the US and Israel went to war on February 28.
‘Violence will be met with violence,’ said Vance
Vice President JD Vance, once seen as a skeptic of US intervention in Iran but now a key figure for President Trump in the conflict, said the American people are sticking to the ceasefire agreement, also known as the memorandum of understanding.
“Iran signed a ceasefire. We have respected it. If they have a disagreement about how the MOU is being implemented, they can hang up. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance told X.
Before the renewed violence, oil prices fell about 3% on Friday, due to heavy weekly losses as oil tankers left the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Aramco has resumed crude loading at its Ras Tanura oil terminal in the Gulf, the world’s largest oil port, after a nearly four-month standstill, shipping data showed. Fertilizer shipments for the crisis have also begun, helping to ease concerns about rising food prices around the world.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – closing a visit to the Gulf to reassure the regional partners about the temporary agreement – issued a joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council saying “free, unconditional and unlimited navigation” in the crisis without the imposition of money or “efforts to ensure control.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the crisis must be managed by Iran and Oman, while Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned Washington’s Gulf allies that their survival depends on Tehran’s patience.
