- Vance warns Iran against further attacks on US interests.
- Iran says it hit US sites in the Gulf in retaliation for attacks.
- Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz raise fears for global oil shipping.
The United States and Iran traded military strikes after Washington on Friday accused Tehran of attacking a cargo ship, jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire as diplomats scramble to contain the Middle East war.
US Central Command said the US strikes against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions were in response to “unprovoked aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces” that “clearly violated the ceasefire”.
It described the operation as “a forceful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship sailing through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iranian state television, citing a reporter in Sirik, said an explosion was heard late Friday at the Taherouyeh pier in the southern port city. It quoted an informed military source as saying that the explosion was caused by a projectile impact in the area.
US President Donald Trump had earlier condemned what he described as an Iranian drone attack on the vessel, saying: “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our ceasefire agreement.”
Vice President JD Vance issued a direct warning, writing the X, that “violence will be met with violence” if Iran carries out further attacks.
Minutes later, Saturday morning, Iranian time, state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards said they were attacking American sites in the Gulf region in retaliation for the American strikes.
“If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the guards said, according to a post by state television on Telegram.
The exchanges raised new questions about efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open as Washington and Tehran negotiate a final solution to a war that began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Iran has warned vessels not to enter or leave the Gulf through the strait without permission, but ships have continued to move, some of them using a route not approved by Tehran.
About half of the 42 vessels that sailed on Thursday used an unapproved southern route along Oman’s coast, according to tracking platform Kpler.
The UN maritime agency said an evacuation operation had freed 115 vessels and 2,500 seafarers trapped by the dispute before the attack forced its suspension.
Oil prices nevertheless fell sharply, reflecting hopes that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a strategic waterway that normally sees about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas exports – would continue to recover despite the latest flare-up.
Lebanon framework
Israel and Lebanon hailed a deal signed with the United States to pave the way for peace on their front in the war, although Hezbollah warned the deal would thwart plans to resolve the wider conflict.
At a signing ceremony in Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, flanked by Israeli and Lebanese envoys, said the trilateral agreement “begins to create a framework for lasting peace and security.”
“It’s the beginning of the beginning. There’s a lot of work ahead,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the framework as a victory against Iran, which argues that the Lebanon front is inseparable from the wider war and should be resolved as part of US-Iran talks.
“Iran has tried to force us to withdraw from southern Lebanon through pressure, but in reality Israel, Lebanon and the United States are telling them: this is none of your business,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said the deal will allow the Lebanese army to return to two “pilot areas” in southern Lebanon, but that Israeli forces will remain in their security zone until Hezbollah is disarmed. Displaced civilians would be prevented from returning.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the unpublished framework as a “first step” towards civilians returning home “under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state.
But Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut late Friday to protest the deal.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the Washington signing sought to undermine the US-Iran ceasefire, which he said envisaged Lebanon being settled through the wider peace process.
The Lebanese government, he warned, would be unable to enforce the agreement “unless they go, with American support, to civil war”.
Nuclear safety control
Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned that any final deal between the US and Iran would require strong safeguards to ensure Tehran does not build a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s nuclear program remains a central issue, with Tehran and Washington giving conflicting accounts of whether inspectors will regain access to the Islamic Republic’s facilities.
“The government of Iran has stated very clearly that this is not their intention,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said of nuclear weapons development.
“But of course, intentions are not enough. We need to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as practicable.”
The provisional agreement says Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium – estimated before the war at 440 kg (970 pounds), enriched to 60% – should be “blended down”.
