Iran, US continue escalating attacks, recriminations over peace deal 

DUBAI/WASHINGTON – Iran and the US continued their attacks in the Gulf as each accused the other of violating an interim deal signed less than two weeks ago to end their four-month-old war.

Shortly after President Donald Trump warned the US might “militarily complete the job”, Iran early on June 28 launched missiles and drones on US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, continuing a series of escalating attacks.

The US military said earlier it had struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route, which Iran had largely cut off for most of the conflict.

Each of the warring sides has accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict.

The 14-point US-Iran interim agreement was meant to halt the fighting, which the US and Israel started on Feb 28, and reopen the strait to shipping while talks began on more deep-seated issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme.

Violence, recriminations follow peace deal, US-Iran talks

One round of mediated talks, led by Vice-President J.D. Vance and Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held in Switzerland a week ago and Washington then waived sanctions on Tehran, but the fighting and recriminations have since resumed and intensified.

“There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” US President Donald Trump posted on social media on June 27.

US Central Command said on June 27 its forces carried out fresh strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone early on June 27. In Iran, state broadcaster IRIB said early on June 28 local time that explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without giving details.

“Iran was given a chance to honour the ceasefire agreement but elected not to,” US Central Command 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 defence, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.

A US defence 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 June 27 by striking targets linked to US forces. The June 27 attack on a tanker in the strait followed another on a cargo ship on June 25 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.

Britain’s UKMTO maritime security agency said the tanker hit on June 27 had sustained damage to its bridge, with all crew reported safe. The Joint Maritime Information Center, run by a coalition of navies protecting shipping, raised its security threat level as a result of recent incidents.

Iran has not directly commented on reports of specific attacks on ships. But Iranian state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards fired “warning shots” towards unspecified vessels attempting to pass through channels not approved by Iran, and that this was now prompting other ships to seek Iranian permits before attempting to cross the strait.

Earlier, Iran’s foreign ministry said it launched “defensive” attacks on US-linked military targets, while Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s regional headquarters, reported an Iranian drone attack. The US military did not immediately respond to the reports.

Iran asserts control over vital straits

Iran has accused the US of not upholding the interim agreement, in particular by not sustaining a promised ceasefire in Lebanon, which US ally Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Israel and Lebanon have repeatedly agreed to US-brokered ceasefires, the latest of which was announced on June 26. But these have had only limited overall impact, with Israel insisting it will not withdraw from territory it has seized and Hezbollah repeatedly rejecting calls to give up its arms as long as Israeli troops remain in place.

Lebanese state television reported an Israeli drone strike on June 27 in the Nabatiyeh area in the south, which has experienced Israeli strikes throughout the conflict. The Israeli military said it had targeted a person who posed a threat to its forces. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the day-old Israel-Lebanon agreement as a surrender and said it was “null and void”.

With hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shi’ite Muslims, still unable to return to homes in Israeli-occupied areas, anger over the agreement has spread beyond Hezbollah to the wider Shi’ite community.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the agreement, saying it allows Israel to maintain its occupation of a so-called security zone in Lebanon and bars the return of displaced residents.

Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said Washington had violated the war-ending memorandum of understanding by supporting what he called proxy forces in the region and creating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has also struck neighbouring Gulf states that host large US military bases. Iranian state television said the Revolutionary Guards had delivered “a decisive response” after US forces hit a communications tower in the port city of Sirik. Iran’s Mehr news agency said the Iranian port was operating normally with no damage reported to facilities or equipment.

Bahrain said Iran’s latest attacks violated the memorandum of understanding.

Hundreds of ships, including tankers laden with oil, have been blockaded inside the Gulf since war broke out. As they began leaving through the strait over the past two weeks, oil prices have tumbled close to pre-war levels on the resulting surge in supply.

Washington has been promoting a southern lane along the coast of Oman, while Tehran, which ultimately aims to charge fees for use of the strait, wants ships to use a northern route through its waters and under its control.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said on Saturday that any violation of Iran’s shipping instructions would be met decisively. US Vice-President Vance, the US’ chief negotiator on the conflict, said the Americans had adhered to the ceasefire deal and blamed Iran for any return to conflict that might result from its actions.

“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honoured it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance said on X. REUTERS