Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said early on Sunday that its navy and aerospace forces had launched joint missile and drone operations targeting U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to recent U.S. strikes against Iran.
“Violating the ceasefire is contrary to Clause 1 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes,” the IRGC said in a statement, according to state-owned broadcaster Press TV.
The announcement by the IRGC came after the U.S. military said it struck Iran again, hours after a tanker was reportedly hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Each of the warring sides has accused the other of violating the agreement reached two weeks ago to end the four-month-old conflict.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday its forces carried out fresh strikes after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone early on Saturday. In Iran, state broadcaster IRIB said early Sunday local time that explosions were heard in Sirik in southern Iran, without providing further details.
“Iran was given a chance to honour the ceasefire agreement but elected not to,” CENTCOM 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.
Commenting on the strikes, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media the U.S. could escalate its response if Iran does not adhere to the truce.
The fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran hangs in the balance after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of attacking a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist.”
Washington said earlier that it hit Iranian targets overnight, while Iran said it had struck targets linked to U.S. forces.
Saturday’s reported attack on a tanker in the strait followed an attack on a cargo ship on Thursday that triggered the 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 that was hit on Saturday had sustained damage to its bridge, with all crew reported safe. The Joint Maritime Information Center, run by a coalition of navies protecting shipping, said it had 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 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired “warning shots” toward unspecified ships 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 Affairs Ministry said it had launched “defensive” attacks on U.S.-linked military targets while Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. navy’s regional headquarters, reported an Iranian drone attack. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to the reports.
Iran asserts control over vital strait
Iran has accused the United States of failing to uphold the interim agreement, in particular by failing to sustain a promised ceasefire in Lebanon, which U.S. ally Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel and Lebanon have repeatedly agreed to U.S.-brokered ceasefire deals, the latest of which was announced on Friday. But these have so far had only limited overall impact, with Israel insisting it will not withdraw from a swath of 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 Saturday in the Nabatieh area in the south, which has seen 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 surrender, and said it was “null and void.”
With hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shia Muslims, still unable to return to homes in Israeli-occupied areas, anger over the agreement has spread beyond Hezbollah to the wider Shia 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.
WATCH | Lebanon, Israel sign framework agreement:
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said the U.S. 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 U.S. military bases. Iranian state television said the Revolutionary Guards had delivered “a decisive response” after U.S. 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 the 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.
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, President Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the conflict, said the Americans had adhered to the ceasefire deal and that Iran was to blame 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 social media platform X.
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