- Vance warns Iran against further attacks on US interests.
- Iran says it struck US sites in the Gulf in retaliation for the strikes.
- Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz are raising fears about global oil transportation.
The United States and Iran exchanged military strikes after Washington on Friday accused Tehran of attacking a cargo ship, jeopardizing a fragile ceasefire as diplomats struggle to contain the Middle East war.
US Central Command said US strikes against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions were a response to “unjustified aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces” that was “clearly violating the ceasefire.”
It describes the operation as “a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian state television, citing a Sirik reporter, said an explosion was heard Friday evening at the Taherouyeh pier in the southern port city. He cited an informed military source as saying the explosion was caused by the impact of a projectile in the area.
US President Donald Trump previously denounced what he described as an Iranian drone strike on the ship, saying: “Clearly, this is a stupid violation of our ceasefire agreement.”
Vice President JD Vance issued a direct warning, posting on X that “violence will meet violence” if Iran carries out further attacks.
Minutes later, Saturday morning Iranian time, state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted U.S. sites in the Gulf region in retaliation for U.S. strikes.
“If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the Guardians said, according to a message broadcast by state television on Telegram.
The exchanges raised new questions about efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open while Washington and Tehran negotiate a final settlement to a war that began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iran warned ships not to enter or exit the Gulf through the strait without authorization, but the ships continued to move, some taking a route not authorized by Tehran.
About half of the 42 ships that made the passage Thursday took an unauthorized southern route along Oman’s coast, according to tracking platform Kpler.
The U.N. maritime agency said an evacuation operation freed 115 ships and 2,500 sailors trapped by the conflict before the attack forced its suspension.
Oil prices nevertheless fell sharply, reflecting hopes that traffic through Hormuz – a strategic waterway that normally hosts around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas exports – would continue to recover despite the latest surge.
Lebanon Frame
Israel and Lebanon have welcomed a deal signed with the United States to pave the way for peace on their war front, although Hezbollah warned the deal would thwart plans to resolve the conflict as a whole.
At a signing ceremony in Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accompanied by Israeli and Lebanese envoys, said the trilateral agreement “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security.”
“It’s the beginning of the beginning. There’s a lot of work to do,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the framework as a victory against Iran, which says the Lebanese front is inseparable from a broader war and should be resolved in U.S.-Iran negotiations.
“Iran 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 would allow the Lebanese army to return to two “pilot areas” in southern Lebanon, but that Israeli forces would remain in their safe zone until Hezbollah was disarmed. Displaced civilians would not be able to return home.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the unpublished framework as a “first step” toward returning civilians home “under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state.”
But Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut on Friday evening to protest the deal.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Washington’s signing was aimed at undermining the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which he said envisaged a settlement of Lebanon through a broader peace process.
The Lebanese government, he warned, will not be able to impose the agreement “unless it engages, with American support, in a civil war.”
Nuclear safeguards
At the same time, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned that any final deal between the United States and Iran would require strong safeguards to ensure Tehran does not build a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s nuclear program remains a central sticking point, with Tehran and Washington giving conflicting versions on whether inspectors will regain access to the Islamic republic’s facilities.
“The Iranian government has clearly stated that this is not its intention,” International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said of nuclear weapons development.
“But of course, intentions are not enough. We need to put a very strong verification system in place…as soon as possible.”
The interim agreement stipulates that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium – estimated pre-war at 440 kilograms (970 pounds), enriched to 60% – should be “reduced”.
