Related videos:
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed on Saturday to have targeted positions of U.S. military forces near the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as a direct response to the bombings carried out by Washington on Friday against military facilities on Iran's southern coast, according to a report by EFE.
"The Revolutionary Guard Navy responded to this aggression by attacking positions where the forces of the U.S. terrorist army are deployed," stated the elite corps in a statement released by the Tasnim agency.
Simultaneously, Iran launched a drone assault against Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy is based, and a vessel was hit in the Strait of Hormuz, further escalating tensions in a region that had already been experiencing weeks of military buildup.
The new Iranian offensive comes just 24 hours after the U.S. military bombed missile warehouses, drones, and coastal radar sites in Iranian territory on Friday at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Iranian state television reported damage to air defense areas along the Persian Gulf coast, including the cities of Abbas Qesh and Sir.
That U.S. retaliation was, in turn, a response to the Iranian attack on Thursday against the cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely, registered under the Singaporean flag, as it was leaving the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman. U.S. forces shot down three of the four drones launched, but one struck the upper deck of the vessel, causing material damage without injuries. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) described that attack as a violation that “undermined the freedom of navigation” in the strategic maritime passage, and President Donald Trump called it an “reckless” and “foolish” violation of the ceasefire.
The Revolutionary Guard justified the attack on the Ever Lovely by claiming that the ship was navigating through an unauthorized route and invoked Clause 5 of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed on June 17 with the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar. This agreement grants Iran control over transit in the Strait and established a cessation of hostilities that included the unblocking of at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
"According to clause 5 of the memorandum of understanding from Islamabad, the organization and control of transit in the Strait of Hormuz belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, the United States attempted to breach that commitment through various provocations, for which it received the corresponding response," stated the Revolutionary Guard, which accused Washington of violating the memorandum.
The Iranian military body also warned that in the event of a new U.S. aggression, its response "will be broader," a threat that raises the risk of an escalation with unpredictable consequences for the transit of 20% of the world's oil that passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict between both powers began in late February 2026 with "Operation Epic Fury," a joint air campaign by the U.S. and Israel, and has resulted in the closure of the Strait on several occasions. A U.S. official specified that the bombings on Friday against Iran "do not indicate a return to large-scale combat operations," although the new Iranian offensive this Saturday seriously jeopardizes the fragile truce negotiated just ten days ago.
Filed under: