US-Iran ceasefire under threat after exchange of strikes in strait of Hormuz

The United States and Iran exchanged fire late on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire.Iran accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, as the US insisted it struck in retaliation.The US military said it targeted sites responsible for attacking US forces in what it called “unprovoked” hostilities by Tehran. It reported destroying six Iranian small boats and intercepting Iranian cruise missiles and drones as Tehran sought to thwart a US naval effort to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.The new skirmishes threw into question the viability of a shaky ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month.US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement on Thursday evening: “Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as USS Truxtun (DDG 103), USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115), and USS Mason (DDG 87) transited the international sea passage. No US assets were struck.”Centcom said its forces eliminated “inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities” responsible for attacking US forces, including missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.“Centcom does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it added.Iran’s military accused the US of breaking the ceasefire agreement by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz.“The aggressive, terrorist, and pirate US military has violated the ceasefire,” a military spokesperson said.The spokesperson added the US carried out airstrikes on “civilian areas” along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik and the island of Qeshm and that the strikes were launched “with the cooperation of some regional countries”.They said Iran’s armed forces responded by attacking US military vessels, “reportedly inflicting significant damage on them”.Responding to the developments, Donald Trump, the US president, told ABC News that the ceasefire with Iran remained in place despite the strikes.Iran’s Press TV reported that following several hours of fire “the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the Strait of Hormuz is back to normal now.“The renewed hostilities came a few hours after officials in Pakistan claimed both countries were close to a temporary agreement to halt the war in the Middle East.Officials in Islamabad said a very basic “interim” deal could be reached this weekend and that Tehran was reviewing a US proposal.However, Pakistan and Trump have repeatedly suggested a breakthrough is imminent while weeks of efforts to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities have made little real progress.In a social media post on Thursday evening, Trump praised the crews of the destroyers for transiting out of the waterway while under fire. The US vessels sustained “no damage”, he said, while describing the “Iranian attackers” as having been “completely destroyed along with numerous small boats” as well as missiles and drones. Trump railed that the attack showed Iran was “not a normal country” and its “lunatic” leaders would not hesitate to use a nuclear weapon if they had one. Without swift diplomatic action, the US could respond “a lot more violently” in the future.Last month, the US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire which included a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after a last-minute diplomatic intervention led by Pakistan.