The United States launched another wave of military strikes against Iran on Saturday after Tehran attacked a commercial cargo vessel and announced it was shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed.
Responding to the latest escalation, Hegseth posted a blunt warning on X, saying Iran would face the consequences of its actions.
“Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay,” Hegseth said.
His remarks accompanied a statement from U.S. Central Command, which accused Iran of carrying out an unprovoked assault on a Cyprus-flagged container ship traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.
CENTCOM announced that, acting on orders from President Donald Trump, U.S. forces began retaliatory strikes at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time.
Describing the maritime attack, CENTCOM said one civilian crew member remains missing and that the vessel sustained extensive damage that forced it to abandon its voyage.
“A civilian crew member is missing and the vessel is unable to continue the journey due to an onboard fire and significant engineroom damage,” CENTCOM posted about Iran’s attack earlier in the day. “Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed.”
The military added that the latest operation is intended to further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten international shipping through one of the world’s busiest waterways.
“The United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait.”
Hegseth’s statement came shortly after CNN reported that Iranian state media claimed the Strait of Hormuz had been closed after Iranian forces fired what were described as “warning shots” at a vessel that was allegedly “traveling on a route it did not approve of.”
Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that American forces struck multiple military targets throughout Iran, including air surveillance radar installations, missile and drone storage facilities, missile and UAV launch sites, maritime surveillance radars, and surface-to-air missile launchers.
The renewed military action comes just weeks after Washington and Tehran reached a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding in mid-June that established a 60-day framework for negotiating a broader peace agreement. Vice President JD Vance subsequently traveled to Switzerland for talks, later saying the Iranian negotiating position had been “extremely confusing,” while expressing optimism that progress was being made.
That diplomatic momentum now appears to have unraveled as Iran has continued violating the fragile ceasefire. President Trump has also adopted an increasingly confrontational tone, referring to Iran’s ruling regime as “scum” last week and warning Friday that the United States has 1,000 missiles “Locked and Loaded” should Iran attempt to assassinate him.
{Matzav.com}