Iran says it hit US military targets in retaliation to US attacks
Iran said Saturday it struck several U.S. military targets in response to a U.S. attack on Iranian missile and drone facilities on Friday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said the U.S. violated the memorandum of understanding both sides agreed to this month, which included a 60-day ceasefire and opening of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said Friday’s strikes were in retaliation for an Iranian attack on a Singapore-flagged ship exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of Oman.
In a statement carried by state-run media on Saturday, Iran said future attacks by the U.S. would draw “a broader response than this.”
The statement didn’t say exactly which targets were hit. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry, though, condemned “the targeting of its territory at dawn today, Saturday, June 27, 2026, by a number of Iranian drones, in a blatant violation of its sovereignty, a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents, and a blatant breach of international norms and conventions that prohibit targeting civilian objects and terrorizing innocent people.”
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations also said it received a report about a tanker being struck by an “unidentified projectile” in the Strait of Hormuz. While the vessel sustained damage to its bridge, all crew members were reported safe, UKMTO said.
Following this, The Joint Maritime Information Center increased the security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz to “SUBSTANTIAL.”
“Mariners are advised of the existence of mines and should expect naval presence as clearance operations continue,” the JMIC said. “Mariners should also expect congestion through transit routes and VHF hailing from naval forces to support free flow.”
U.S. and Iran’s attacks on each other put the recently signed ceasefire into question.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it,” Vice President JD Vance said on Friday. “If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence.”
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of the parliament, said “the failed U.S. President has shown he has no commitment to the principles of negotiation or a ceasefire.”
“This reckless violation of the ceasefire will, as always, lead to retreat and regret on their part,” he said.
Lebanon, Israel sign agreement
Another part of the memorandum signed by the U.S. and Iran includes the termination of military operations in Lebanon.
On Friday, the State Department announced Israel and Lebanon came to a framework agreement, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “builds a realistic path out of endless conflict.”
Included in the agreement is Israel’s withdrawal from two areas in Lebanon, as well as the U.S. facilitating a “Military Coordination Group for Lebanon” to implement the framework, and committing $100 million in humanitarian assistance. It also “establishes a clear and structured process” for disarming Hezbollah, which operates out of Lebanon, Rubio said.
The Associated Press wrote the framework agreement was signed by Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, and Nada Hamadeh Moawad, the Lebanese ambassador to the U.S., in front of Rubio in Washington.
“Our language is we want to embrace Lebanon,” Leiter was quoted by the AP as saying. “Our language is we want to get in our car in Tel Aviv and take a drive up to Beirut, and we want Beirut to come down and take a drive to Tel Aviv. That’s where we’re going. That’s where we want to go.”
This will depend on Hezbollah being disarmed, Leiter said.
Moawad, meanwhile, called the framework “a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to their land and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, security and prosperity.”
However, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the deal Saturday, according to Reuters, as he said it is a surrender to Israel. Qassem said in a statement the agreement is “null and void,” adding that Hezbollah will not stop its armed resistance.
“We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it,” Qassem said.
Since March, more than 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes, the AP wrote, and at least 37 soldiers from Israel were killed during the fighting. In addition, more than one million Lebanese citizens were displaced, Reuters said.
Just one day after the framework was signed, Lebanon’s state news agency reported an Israeli drone strike on Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military said to Reuters the attack targeted an individual who posed a threat, though did not provide evidence or any other details.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
