The US military said it struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, in the worst escalation since the two sides signed an interim peace deal two weeks ago. Each of the warring sides has accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict. US Central Command said on Saturday its forces carried out fresh strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone early on Saturday. In Iran, state broadcaster IRIB said early Sunday local time that explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without providing further details.
"Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to," CENTCOM said in a statement. It said the strikes were "in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping" and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage, and mine-laying facilities. A US defense official later reported that the strikes on Iranian targets were complete, according to Fox News.
Washington said earlier that it hit Iranian targets overnight. Iran said it responded on Saturday by striking targets linked to US forces. Saturday's attack on a tanker in the strait followed another on a cargo ship on Thursday that triggered the latest escalation. Iran has made a fresh bid to assert control over the world's most important energy shipping route, which has begun to reopen after months of disruption. (Ed note: The US hit Iran for the second time on Saturday, June 27th, about 2:15 pm west coast time.) (Read More)
