The elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard during their annual parade, on September 22, 2018. Photo AFP
Iran said Saturday that it responded by attacking American targets in the Gulf after the United States carried out strikes on its territory the previous day.
The American strikes, the first known since the memorandum of understanding was signed between Washington and Tehran on June 17, were launched following an attack on a commercial vessel that had crossed the Strait of Hormuz the day before and was attributed to Iran by the United States. "If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this," warned the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, as quoted by state TV Irib.
For its part, the U.S. military announced it had "targeted missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar locations in Iran" in response "to the previous day's attack on a commercial vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz." It later published a video of its strike on Iran on X.
Iranian state television reported Friday night an explosion and the impact of a projectile on a dock in the city of Sirik, in the south of the country, as well as several warning shots aimed at what Tehran calls "violating vessels" in the Strait of Hormuz. "The port of Sirik suffered no damage during the enemy attack," a regional port official in Hormozgan was later quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency Mehr.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that Iran had "signed a cease-fire agreement. We respected it. If they have disagreements about implementing the memorandum, they can pick up the phone. But violence will only breed violence."
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump called the cargo ship attack a "stupid violation" of the cease-fire as the two belligerents entered a 60-day phase of negotiations to reach a final agreement. "You'll see," he replied evasively to questions about a possible U.S. military response.
Framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel
Vessels continued to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, which Iran reopened following the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
And several ships used a route not approved by Tehran, even though the Iranian maritime authority had warned that "any passage outside the defined framework would not benefit from safe passage guarantees." On Friday, 29 commercial ships crossed the strait, according to data from the tracking site Kpler in the late afternoon. Seventeen followed a route along the coast of Oman. After a peak of 57 ships on Wednesday, 42 passed on Thursday. The evacuation process for about 600 vessels, with 11,000 sailors on board blocked in the Gulf since the start of the war, was suspended after the cargo ship attack and will resume as soon as "additional confirmations" of security guarantees are obtained, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) explained.
Since its launch Tuesday, about 2,500 sailors and 115 ships have been evacuated so far, according to the IMO.
On another front, Washington on Friday published the text of a framework agreement, brokered by the United States, between Israel and Lebanon, with the stated goal of "lasting peace and security" between the two countries, which have technically been at war for decades.
"Toward a civil war"
In a video released just after the announcement, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to highlight successes achieved on the Israeli side, starting with keeping its army in southern Lebanon "as long as Hezbollah remains armed," despite the establishment of two "pilot zones" returned to Lebanese army control. He also warned that the displaced civilian population could not return.
"Iran is trying to force us to withdraw from southern Lebanon through pressure, but in reality, Israel, Lebanon, and the United States are responding: it’s none of your business," he argued. The agreement is "a first step" toward restoring Lebanon’s full sovereignty without "occupation," "subordination," or "tutelage," Lebanese President Joseph Aoun responded.
Both the Lebanese embassy in Washington and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to the issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament in their communications.
"The Lebanese authorities will be unable to implement it unless they are heading, with American support, toward a civil war," responded Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker. The Iranian-allied armed movement is well established in southern Lebanon and has always rejected direct negotiations. The lawmaker also called the agreement "an attempt to undermine" the one concluded on June 17 between Washington and Tehran to bring a lasting end to the war in the Middle East, including Lebanon — at Iran’s insistence that the two issues not be separated.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict at the beginning of March when Hezbollah targeted Israel in support of its Iranian sponsor, following the U.S.-Israeli offensive on Tehran on Feb. 28.
