US and Iran trade strikes, accuse each other of ceasefire breach

A U.S. official said Washington and Tehran had agreed to halt recent hostilities and let vessels move more freely through the Strait of Hormuz, but the ceasefire was already being tested by fresh accusations from both capitals. Technical talks were slated to continue, and the parties were expected to meet again in Qatar.

The latest flare-up followed Iranian drone and missile attacks on U.S.-linked sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, along with a tanker hit by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. Britain’s maritime security agency tracked the shipping incident, and the attack underscored how quickly the fighting had spread from military targets to commercial traffic on one of the world’s most sensitive sea lanes.

The United States said it answered with retaliatory strikes on Iranian targets. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its attacks came in response to U.S. action, while President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire after drone attacks on ships passing through the strait. Iran also warned that efforts to route shipping around its preferred passage would raise tensions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said any new transit route established without coordination with Tehran was “unacceptable and dangerous.”

The weekend exchange was described as the sharpest escalation since the interim understanding reached earlier in June, when the two sides were given 60 days to resolve their disputes and keep the deal alive. That clock now hangs over a waterway central to global shipping and energy flows, where even a temporary pause depends on whether the promised talks can produce enforcement that neither side has yet spelled out publicly.