The U.S. launched overnight retaliatory strikes against military targets in Iran following an attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The U.S. military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday, targeting sites it said were responsible for attacking U.S. forces in what it called unprovoked hostilities by Tehran,” Reuters reported. “No U.S. military assets were hit by the Iranians, the U.S. military said.”
The Iranian attack came even as the U.S. on Tuesday paused Project Freedom, a naval mission to restore commercial shipping in the Hormuz Strait. This marks the second reported Iranian attack on U.S. Naval assets since President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire 31 days ago.
President Trump described the U.S. retaliatory strike as a ‘love tap,’ maintaining that the ceasefire remains in place while talks with Tehran continue.
“Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers,” the president confirmed on Truth Social.
The Iranian attackers “were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy,” he added.
Centcom disclosed the details of the retaliatory strike in a statement:
U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, May 7.Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as USS Truxtun (DDG 103), USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115), and USS Mason (DDG 87) transited the international sea passage. No U.S. assets were struck.U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.
The Iranian military and state-controlled media confirmed multiple U.S. strikes, targeting the regime and the Islamic Guard-owned oil and infrastructure targets.
“Iranian news agencies said that “several explosions” were heard near the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, with commercial parts of a pier in Qeshm – the largest island in the Gulf – being “targeted”,” the BBC reported. “Iran’s top military command alleged the US targeted an Iranian oil tanker moving towards the strait, as well as another vessel entering the strait opposite the Emirati port of Fujaira.”
According to the broadcaster, “explosions were heard in several cities” across Iran.
The U.S. armed forces on Friday disable two Iranian oil tankers attempting to breach a three week-old maritime blockade. President Trump ordered the blockade to cripple the regime’s lucrative energy export.
CNBC News reported Friday afternoon:
The U.S. military said it struck two Iran-flagged unladen oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, preventing the vessels from entering an Iranian port in violation of a U.S. naval blockade.A U.S. fighter jet “disabled both tankers after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement, which included unclassified video of both strikes.
In a flagrant breach of the ceasefire, Iran launched further airstrikes against the neighboring UAE. “United Arab Emirates says its air defenses are intercepting drone and missile fire as Iran war’s ceasefire challenged,” ABC News reported Friday morning.
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