Iran says it hit US-linked targets as Bahrain reports drone attack

Iran says it has struck targets linked to US forces in response to American air strikes on its southern coast, as each side continues to accuse the other of violating last week’s agreement meant to end the four-month-old war.

Iran’s foreign ministry did not identify the locations of its “defensive” attacks on Saturday, local time, which it said were a response to “the barbaric air strikes” by the US on its coastal surveillance facilities, which it said also violated the UN Charter.

Later, Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, condemned what it said was an Iranian drone attack on its territory as a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and a threat to its security, adding that it reserved the right to defend itself.

Meanwhile in the Strait of Hormuz, an oil tanker was struck and damaged by an “unidentified projectile”, British maritime security agency UKMTO said on Saturday.

“The vessel sustained damage to their bridge; all crew are reported safe,” UKMTO said, while another British marine security firm, Vanguard Tech, said the vessel was the Panama-flagged tanker KIKU.

Iran has not directly commented on reports of specific attacks on ships, but Iranian state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards had fired “warning shots” towards unspecified ships attempting to pass through channels not approved by Iran.

Washington did not immediately respond to Iran’s report of striking American targets, a tactic that has sought to undermine US allies in the region during the conflict.

The US military said its strikes on Friday had been a response to an Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway vital to global energy supplies.

Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

In a separate development,  Lebanon’s state news agency reported an Israeli drone struck the Nabatiyeh area in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out the strike, saying it was targeting an individual who posed a threat to its forces without providing further details or evidence. It said the drone was used as no Israeli troops were in the immediate area.

Nabatieh al-Fawqa lies outside a security zone its troops control in southern Lebanon, according to a map published by Israel.

It came a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered security arrangement aimed at reducing tensions along their border following months of hostilities with Hezbollah.

Both sides said the deal was an initial step that calls for Hezbollah to disarm and Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, but it was not clear how it would be enforced. Hezbollah said it would not cooperate.

Iran asserts control over vital strait

Iranian state television said the country’s Revolutionary Guards had delivered “a decisive response” after US forces hit a communications tower in the port city of Sirik.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said the port was operating normally with no damage reported to facilities or equipment.

Bahrain said Iran’s continued attacks, despite regional and international de-escalation efforts, were undermining peace and regional stability.

It also accused Tehran of breaching UN Security Council Resolution 2817 and the June 17 Islamabad memorandum of understanding.

After Thursday’s strike on a cargo ship off Oman’s coast, Iran did not acknowledge responsibility.

Instead it asserted its authority to regulate shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and said vessels must comply with routes designated by Tehran. 

Iran also warned Gulf states against siding with Washington and said the Iran-US interim agreement gave it control over ship traffic through the strategic waterway.

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said on Saturday that any violation of Iran’s shipping instructions through the strait would be met decisively.

US Central Command condemned what it said was Iran’s Thursday strike as “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping”, adding the US would continue to provide “safe passage coordination and support” to commercial vessels transiting the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz was the conduit of one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG supplies before the US and Israel launched the war on February 28.

‘Violence will be met with violence,’ Vance says

US Vice-President JD Vance, once seen as a sceptic on US intervention in Iran but now a point person for President Donald Trump on the conflict, said the Americans have adhered to the ceasefire deal, also known as a memorandum of understanding.

“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored 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,” Mr Vance said on X.

Before the renewed outbreak of violence, oil prices fell about 3 per cent on Friday, on course for steep weekly losses as oil tankers have exited the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf, the world’s biggest oil port, after a nearly four-month halt, shipping data showed.

Fertiliser shipments through the strait have also picked up, helping to assuage concerns about a spike in global food prices.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — wrapping up a tour of the Gulf to reassure regional allies about the interim pact — issued a joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council calling for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” in the strait without tolls or “attempts to assert control”.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the strait should be governed by Iran and Oman, while Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned Washington’s Gulf allies their survival depended on Tehran’s tolerance.

Reuters/AFP