The United States said it had “targeted Iranian military installations” on Thursday after several of their ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. “They played with us today. We swept them away. They played. I call it a trivial matter,” said the American president to journalists, adding that, according to him, the ceasefire was still in effect. These exchanged shots undermine the truce in place since April 8, nearly a month ago, at a time when Washington is still awaiting a response from Tehran to their latest proposal to end the war.
And this Friday morning, the United Arab Emirates defense forces are in action against drones and missiles fired, according to their Ministry of Defense, from Iran. Tehran did not immediately react to this information. It had categorically denied earlier this week any role in attacks reported by the Gulf country. Donald Trump called on Iran to sign an agreement “QUICKLY” in a post on his Truth Social platform, threatening to strike “much more violently in the future.”
“The American forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and retaliated with defensive strikes,” after three of their missile-bearing destroyers were attacked while crossing the Strait of Hormuz towards the Gulf of Oman by Iranian “missiles, drones, and small boats,” wrote the U.S. command for the Middle East.
“They neutralized the threats and targeted Iranian military installations responsible for the attacks against American forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control centers, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance bases,” he added. “No American ship was hit,” clarified the U.S. military.
The Iranian military command accused Washington of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian tanker leaving Iranian shores, as well as another ship, in a statement broadcast by state television. It immediately responded by attacking U.S. military vessels, inflicting significant damage. Iranian television had previously reported explosions heard in a port in the Qeshm region, located in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has been blocking this strategic passage for global oil trade since the start of the war on February 28, which has resulted in thousands of deaths, especially in Iran and Lebanon, and shaken the world economy. “I firmly believe that this ceasefire will become a lasting ceasefire,” said Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in a televised speech on Thursday, whose country acts as a mediator and is “in constant contact with Iran and the United States, day and night.”
In the absence of a breakthrough in the negotiations, oil prices dropped slightly on Thursday and rose slightly Friday morning. The Brent barrel, the global benchmark, was trading above $101 around 5:20 am. Donald Trump had deemed a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic “very possible” on Wednesday, mentioning “very good discussions in the past 24 hours,” even as he had once again hinted at a possible resumption of bombings.
On the Israeli-Lebanon front of the conflict, new talks between Israel and Lebanon are set to take place in Washington on May 14 and 15, despite a fragile ceasefire due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Two initial direct negotiation sessions in the American capital between Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors took place on April 14 and 23.
The two countries have been officially at war since 1948, and the April sessions were the first of their kind in 33 years. Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun, stated on Monday that a security agreement with Israel and the “end of Israeli aggressions” must precede any potential meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Despite the ceasefire, fighting continues in Lebanon. Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people, including two children, on Thursday in the southern part of the country, according to the Health Ministry. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, which dragged Lebanon into the war on March 2 in support of Tehran, claims responsibility for attacks against Israeli forces occupying areas in the south of the country.
