Tehran says it attacked US-linked sites; tanker hit in Strait of Hormuz

Iran said on Saturday it attacked U.S.-affiliated military targets in the Middle East in response to renewed American strikes against it the previous day, while Bahrain confirmed it had been attacked by Iranian drones in the early morning hours.

Later in the day, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, a Royal Navy arm with a regional office in Dubai, said that it had received a report of a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz being hit by an “unidentified projectile.”

The crew was unharmed and no environmental damage was reported, although the vessel sustained damage to its bridge, UKTMO said.

The maritime security agency upgraded the security alert level in the waterway to “substantial,” advising mariners to transit through safely designated routes.

The Bahraini Foreign Ministry in a statement condemned the Iranian attack on its territory, describing it as a “flagrant violation of Bahrain’s sovereignty” and a “grave breach of international norms” that prohibit attacks on civilians.

On Friday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps struck a merchant ship with a one-way attack drone in violation of the ceasefire terms, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

In response, “U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites,” CENTCOM said.

“The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack,” it added.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance took to X to say, “Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence.”

Vance’s words echoed President Donald Trump’s earlier message on Truth Social that Tehran’s conduct was a “foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump said: “I don’t like the fact that they [the Iranian regime] took a shot yesterday—actually four, we knocked down three—at a ship. Not an allied ship ... But a very expensive ship … They shouldn’t be doing that. Will I respond? You’re going to find out.”

The Trump administration signed a framework Memorandum of Understanding in Versailles, France, with the Islamic Republic on June 17 to end the hostilities in the Mideast. The agreement lists 14 points that commits both parties to engage in a 60-day period of negotiations to reach a final agreement that will involve Tehran’s nuclear project, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. lifting of sanctions on Iran.