U.S. Central Command confirmed that it carried out additional strikes against Iran on Saturday, serving as a critical test for the fragile ceasefire agreement recently signed by both nations. This surge in hostilities arrives just one week after a memorandum of understanding was established to begin de-escalating the conflict. Tensions escalated on Thursday when Iran attacked a ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. executed retaliatory strikes on Friday, accusing Iran of violating the ceasefire pact. According to the Pentagon, the Friday strikes were a direct response to Iran’s aggression against commercial shipping. The military stated that Iran was provided an opportunity to honor the agreement but ultimately elected not to do so. A statement issued Saturday indicated that Iran responded by hitting targets linked to American aggressor forces in the region, while condemning Gulf states for permitting their territory to be used for hostile actions against the Islamic Republic.
On Saturday evening, the U.S. Central Command launched another wave of retaliatory strikes at the direction of President Donald Trump. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump stated that U.S. aircraft targeted Iranian drone and missile storage locations, along with coastal radar sites, for violating the ceasefire again. He warned that if Iran does not learn, the U.S. will be forced to militarily complete the job it started, threatening that the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist.
While no specific target was identified regarding Iranian strikes earlier Saturday, Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, condemned an Iranian drone attack on its territory. Bahrain labeled the incident a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and a blatant threat to its citizens and residents. Iran had previously fired at least four drones at ships in the strait on Thursday, according to President Trump. One drone struck the upper deck of the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely as it exited the strait along the Omani coast. The U.S. successfully knocked down the other three drones. The shipping company confirmed there were no injuries and that the vessel remained operational despite some damage.
Central Command stated that the unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping violated the ceasefire and undermined freedom of navigation in the vital international trade corridor, through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil passed before the war. Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of the Iranian parliament, criticized the U.S. on X for attacking in the middle of negotiations and claimed the U.S. president lacks commitment to ceasefire principles. Iran further accused the U.S. of violating Article 1 of the memorandum, which mandates the permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Mohsen Rezaei, a senior official and former commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned on X that any response to the violation of any article of the memorandum would be swift and decisive. Vice President JD Vance addressed the situation on X, stating that if there are disagreements on how the memorandum is applied, they can pick up the phone, but emphasized that violence will be met with violence. The memorandum stipulated that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and that Iran would allow safe passage of commercial vessels at no charge for 60 days. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) had coordinated an alternative route avoiding Iranian waters, but the agency has since paused these efforts. Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez noted the vessel struck Thursday was not following the IMO evacuation framework. The UKMTO raised the threat level in the strait to substantial, advising mariners of potential mines and ongoing clearance operations.
