U.S. and Iran trade strikes after tanker attack, truce tested

The U.S. military struck Iranian targets again after a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, and Donald Trump said Tehran had broken the 60-day ceasefire that had held only briefly. Trump warned the United States might “complete the job” if Iran did not comply, while CENTCOM said its aircraft hit missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions after an attack on a commercial ship transiting the strait. The latest exchange marked the worst escalation since the interim peace deal was signed two weeks earlier.

The flashpoint was the tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz, where Britain’s UKMTO said the vessel’s bridge was damaged but the crew was safe. The International Energy Agency says about 20 million barrels a day of crude oil and oil products moved through the strait in 2025, making it one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. The Joint Maritime Information Center raised its security threat level after the latest incidents, underscoring the immediate risk to shipping, freight rates and insurance costs.

Bahrain said Iranian drones targeted its territory, and its foreign ministry called the strike a flagrant violation of sovereignty and a serious breach of international norms. Reuters noted that Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s regional headquarters, was pulled directly into the exchange, and AP said no casualties were reported in either the Bahrain attack or the tanker strike. That widened the military exposure beyond U.S. strikes on Iran itself and put regional allies on the front line of the retaliation cycle.

The nuclear dimension remains unsettled as Rafael Mariano Grossi said IAEA inspectors stayed in Iran and were ready to verify inventories, including more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% last checked before the Israeli strikes began on 13 June 2025. The agency has said attacks on Iranian nuclear sites sharply damaged safety and security, adding urgency to talks that already had to juggle sanctions relief, the Strait of Hormuz and access to Iran’s unfrozen funds.