PENTAGON SAYS US 'CONDUCTED STRIKES AGAINST IRAN' ON FRIDAY IN RESPONSE TO STRAIT OF HORMUZ SHIP ATTACK
By Guardian-Robert Mackey /Lucy Campbell/Marina Dunbar/Aneesa Ahmed -Fri 26 Jun 2026 22.21 BST
Announcement of strikes come after Donald Trump was asked if Iran would face consequences for attack in strait of Hormuz. United States Central Command, which directs US military forces in the Middle East, said US forces “conducted strikes against Iran, June 26, as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.
The Pentagon statement posted on social media continued:
U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone. The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack.
The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire.
The strikes came shortly after Donald Trump was asked if Iran would face any consequences for violating the ceasefire with a drone attack on a commercial ship in the strait on Thursday.
“Well, you’ll find out,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
22.00 BST
Iranian media reports strike on pier in southern Iran near strait of Hormuz
According to Reuters, Iranian media reported on Friday that a pier in Sirik, on the coast of southern Iran near the strait of Hormuz had been struck.
The report came after the Pentagon announced it had conducted strikes against Iran in response to an Iranian drone attack on a Singapore-flagged commercial ship in a part of the strait close to Oman.
Citing an Iranian military source, Iranian media also reported that warning shots had been fired hours earlier on Friday toward “violating vessels” in the strait of Hormuz.
The UN’s International Maritime Organization said on Thursday that it was pausing its plan to move stranded ships with more than 11,000 sailors out of the Persian gulf through the strait using a route that Iran’s military called “unacceptable and completely dangerous”.
The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN agency’s secretary general.
The Iranian drone strike on the ship came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.
The Ever Lovely, the cargo ship that was struck, had been following a route through the strait recommended by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations when it was struck, the ship’s owner, Evergreen, said.
“All crew members remain safe as does the vessel itself and all cargo,” it added.
22.21 BST
The capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by the United States is a clear signal that the seismic geopolitical shifts of 2025 were just the start of a dramatic global realignment.
With the Trump administration threatening other nations, and rival powers in Beijing and Moscow potentially emboldened by the US action in Venezuela, the next few months feel like a make-or-break moment for the existing rules-based international order.
22.02 BST
Pentagon official tells Fox News US strikes on Iran are 'ongoing'
US airstrikes on Iranian targets are “ongoing”, a senior US defense official told the Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported on social media minutes ago.
Pentagon says US 'conducted strikes against Iran' on Friday in response to strait of Hormuz ship attack
United States Central Command, which directs US military forces in the Middle East, said US forces “conducted strikes against Iran, June 26, as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.
The Pentagon statement posted on social media continued:
U.S. aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone. The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack.
The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire.
The strikes came shortly after Donald Trump was asked if Iran would face any consequences for violating the ceasefire with a drone attack on a commercial ship in the strait on Thursday.
“Well, you’ll find out,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
22.00 BST
Trump hints at US response to Iran attack on cargo ship
Donald Trump has said “you’ll find out” when asked if Iran would face any consequences after firing drones on a commercial vessel in the strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
Trump accused Iran of a “foolish violation” the ceasefire in a subsequent Truth Social post, adding that Iran fired at least four one-way attack drones at ships transiting the strait, of which the US shot down three, while the other hit the ship.
Asked if he considered the ceasefire to still be in effect, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he didn’t like the fact that Iran had taken shots. “They shouldn’t be doing that, so you’ll find out.”
Pressed to say if he would respond, the president repeated: “You’ll find out.”
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