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US Central Command says it conducted 'defensive strikes' against 'unprovoked Iranian attacks' in strait of Hormuz
And now we have some confirmation of fresh strikes from US Central Command.
US forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with “self-defense strikes” as US Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.
“Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats” as three US destroyers transited the waterway, Centcom said. “No US assets were struck.”
Centcom added that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.”
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Donald Trump is saying “great damage” was done to the Iranian attackers of the US destroyers in the Hormuz strait.
He also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US would knock out Iran “a lot harder and a lot more violently” if it didn’t agree to a peace deal “FAST”.
The US president said the three US destroyers successfully transited out of the Hormuz strait under fire and without being damaged but with “great damage done to the Iranian attackers”.
They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!
Donald Trump has reportedly told US ABC News the ceasefire with Iran is still going and “in effect” despite today’s new strikes.
The US military’s Central Command has named the navy destroyers it says were attacked by Iran in the strait of Hormuz as the USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason.
As mentioned earlier, it said Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats as the vessels transited the waterway but that none were hit.
It added in the statement posted on social media:
CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”
US Central Command says it conducted 'defensive strikes' against 'unprovoked Iranian attacks' in strait of Hormuz
And now we have some confirmation of fresh strikes from US Central Command.
US forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with “self-defense strikes” as US Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the strait of Hormuz, Centcom said.
“Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small boats” as three US destroyers transited the waterway, Centcom said. “No US assets were struck.”
Centcom added that it “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.”
Iran says it is attacking US military vessels after US 'violated' ceasefire with fresh strikes
Iran has accused the United States of violating the ceasefire by targeting two ships at the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, the country’s top joint military command said early on Friday (local time in Tehran is almost 1am).
The US targeted “an Iranian oil tanker travelling from Iran’s coastal waters near Jask toward the strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the strait of Hormuz near the Emirati port of Fujairah,” a spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement carried by state media.
“At the same time, with the cooperation of some regional countries, they carried out air attacks on civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island.”
Iran’s armed forces responded by attacking US military vessels, “reportedly inflicting significant damage on them,” the spokesperson said.
There’s been no word yet from the US military.
Iran targets three US destroyers near strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reports
Three US Navy destroyers near the strait of Hormuz have been targeted by the Iranian navy, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.
It comes after an earlier report from Iran’s state broadcaster that “enemy units” operating in the area of the strait came under Iranian missile fire, following an attack by the US military on an Iranian oil tanker, forcing the units to retreat.
It follows a US jet disabling an Iranian oil tanker on Wednesday after it attempted to evade the US blockade.
I’ll bring you more on this as well as any comment from Washington as we get it.
Air defences activated in Tehran and more explosions heard in southern Iran
Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that air defences have been activated in western Tehran “countering hostile targets”.
Mehr also said another explosion had been heard in Bandar Abbas, along with an explosion heard in Minab, to the east of Bandar Abbas. Both areas lie north of the strait of Hormuz.
Iran's state broadcaster says 'enemy units' came under missile fire after US attack on Iranian oil tanker
Iran’s state broadcaster, citing an unnamed military official, has said that “enemy units” operating in the area of the strait of Hormuz came under Iranian missile fire, following an attack by the US military on an Iranian oil tanker, forcing the units to retreat.
And the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said Iran’s armed forces had exchanged fire with enemy forces attacking Bahman pier on Qeshm Island, which is in the strait of Hormuz.
Further to that, Iranian state media outlets have reported more details about those explosions.
The Mizan news agency has said the explosions heard on the island of Qeshm were caused by air defences intercepting several small drones.
The Mehr news agency also reported that air defences shot down two “hostile” drones over Bandar Abbas and Qeshm.
Tasnim news agency also reported, citing sources, that two drones were brought down by air defences in Bandar Abbas.
Explosions heard near Iranian city and island
Iran’s Fars news agency said that several sounds resembling explosions were heard near the city of Bandar Abbas, adding the origin and the location of these sounds was unknown.
Meanwhile, the Mehr news agency said sounds of explosions could be heard on the island of Qeshm.
The US has urged countries to support its United Nations resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining of the Strait of Hormuz, but diplomats said China and Russia are likely to veto it.
A Chinese veto would be awkward ahead of president Donald Trump’s trip to China next week, where the Iran war is like to be high on the agenda.
A previous resolution backed by the US that appeared to open a path to legitimizing U.S. military action against Iran failed last month after Russia and China exercised their vetoes in the 15-member U.N. Security Council.
Washington’s U.N. envoy Mike Waltz told reporters that any countries that “seek to throw it out, are setting a very, very dangerous precedent.”
“We have to ask ourselves, if a country chooses to oppose such a simple proposition, do they really want peace?”
The US and Iran are close to a temporary agreement to halt the war in the Middle East, officials in Pakistan claimed on Thursday, as diplomatic activity gathered fresh momentum after a near breakdown of the current ceasefire earlier this week, writes Jason Burke and Saeed Shah.
Officials on Islamabad said a very basic “interim” deal could be reached as early as this weekend and that Tehran was reviewing a US proposal.
However, Trump and Pakistan have consistently suggested a breakthrough was imminent, and weeks of previous efforts to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities have made little real progress.
Recent days have seen wild swings from hope to despair as the US and Iran test each other’s resilience and will, seeking leverage in any talks through belligerent rhetoric, defiance and sporadic violence.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait lift curbs on US military access to their bases and airspace - WSJ report
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have lifted restrictions on the US military’s use of their bases and airspace that were imposed after the launch of a US operation to reopen the strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports, citing US and Saudi officials.
Per the WSJ’s report, the move paves the way for so-called “Project Freedom” to resume in the coming days. Pentagon officials told the paper it could happen as early as this week.
Earlier this week the Trump administration abruptly paused its operation for the US military to “guide” commercial ships through the critical waterway after only 36 hours.
NBC News reported on Thursday that Donald Trump’s U-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly with the US president – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the operation.
A Saudi source denied that report, telling AFP that the United States still has regular access to Saudi bases and airspace.
But the WSJ hears the same, as well as that US access to Saudi bases and airspace was restored after a second call between Trump and MBS.
Per its report:
The mission set off the biggest dispute in Saudi-American military relations in recent years, triggering a spate of high-level phone calls between Trump and the kingdom’s crown prince and raising the risk of a breakdown of a long-held security deal between Washington and Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait blocked the US military’s use of their bases and airspace after senior American officials played down Iranian attacks on the Persian Gulf in reaction to the operation in the strait, Saudi officials said. The Saudis and other Gulf states were also concerned that the US wouldn’t protect them amid the escalation in fighting, they said.
Trump had suspended the effort, called Project Freedom, on Tuesday evening, after a phone call with the kingdom’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in which the de facto Saudi leader conveyed his concerns and advised the president of the decision about base and airspace restrictions, the Saudi officials said. The president tried to get the Gulf leader to back down, they said. Trump said on social media that he had agreed to pause the initiative at the request of Pakistan and other countries.
Access to basing and overflight by US forces in Saudi Arabia was reinstated after another phone call between the two leaders, according to US and Saudi officials.
The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iraq’s deputy oil minister, Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly, the US treasury department said on Thursday, accusing him of abusing “his position to facilitate the diversion of oil to be sold for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its proxy militias in Iraq”.
It also imposed sanctions on three senior leaders of Iran-aligned militias. “Treasury will not stand idly by as Iran’s military exploits Iraqi oil to fund terrorism against the United States and our partners,” treasury secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Outrage as oil giants profit billions from war on Iran - podcast
Shell has made $6.9bn in profits since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran at the end of February, cashing in on soaring energy prices. The enormous profits have reignited calls for higher taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund support for those hardest hit by rising costs.
In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s energy correspondent, Jillian Ambrose.
The day so far
The US and Iran have offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Donald Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible”. Iranian officials, however, have sought to dampen expectations, with state media reporting that Tehran is, at most, reviewing the US’s peace proposal and considering its response via Pakistani mediators.
Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of talks on 14-15 May in Washington on seeking a peace deal, despite a new Israeli strike against Hezbollah, a US official said Thursday. “There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a state department official said on condition of anonymity.
Next week’s talks will be the third between Israel and Lebanon, which had not spoken directly for decades and have no diplomatic relations. “There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,” a US state department official said on condition of anonymity.
A Saudi source on Thursday rejected a US media report saying president Donald Trump announced a pause in an American military operation to guide stranded ships through the strait of Hormuz following an intervention by Riyadh. According to a report from US network NBC News, Trump’s u-turn came after Saudi Arabia – whose crown prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly talked directly to Trump – refused to allow US forces to use its airspace and bases for the Hormuz operation.
Around 1,500 ships and their crews are trapped in the Gulf due to the Iranian blockade in the strait of Hormuz, the secretary general of the UN’s Maritime Organization said in Panama on Thursday. The war in the Middle East provoked reprisals from Tehran across the region and a shipping blockade in Hormuz, a crucial global trade route.
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has spoken with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, on the phone today, according to a statement posted on the former’s Telegram channel. As reported earlier, Iran said it was reviewing the US proposal to end the war and would convey its position to Pakistani mediators, while Islamabad has expressed hope that a deal could be reached soon.
The United Arab Emirates will form a committee to document Iran’s attacks during the Middle East war to support legal action, state media said Thursday, after earlier calling for reparations. Major landmarks including Dubai’s luxury Palm development, as well as airports and energy facilities, were among the sites hit in Iran’s retaliatory attacks on the Gulf.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers have transited the strait of Hormuz five times over the past two weeks, maritime tracking firm Kpler said on Thursday. That was up from just one between 1 March and 21 April, after the Middle East war largely halted traffic through the strategic waterway.
Iran is carrying out near-daily executions of prisoners in secrecy and, in some cases, refusing to hand the bodies of the dead to their families, according to rights groups and sources close to the relatives of the dead. Many families only learn of executions after they have been carried out, with some facing harassment and pressure not to speak publicly on the personal impact of the state killings, the sources said.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has held talks with Pope Leo at the Vatican. The US state department said in a statement quoted by AP that the pair discussed “efforts to achieve a durable peace in the Middle East,” which obviously are at the heart of the disagreement between Donald Trump and the pope.
The governor of Tehran, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian, has announced that all ministries, government organisations and executive agencies in the Iranian capital will resume full operations from Saturday, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Government bodies “will operate with 100% staff attendance” from 9 May, Motamedian was quoted as saying, adding that activities in schools and universities will be announced by the education ministry.
The Israeli military said it would investigate after a soldier was photographed placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon. An image appearing to show an Israeli soldier with his arm around the statue and holding a cigarette up to the mouth of the figure was widely shared on social media yesterday.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has issued a video statement in response to the reported killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut. The Israeli military said this morning that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in a strike in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of southern Beirut yesterday, in the first attack on the Lebanese capital in nearly a month.
