Iran and US Exchange Strikes After Drone Strike on Oil Tanker in Hormuz

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes on Sunday following a drone attack on a ship carrying crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Drone Strike: On Saturday, the US military said an Iranian drone hit a Panama-flagged oil tanker carrying 2 million barrels near the strait. The United Kingdom said the ship was hit in the bridge. CENTCOM said, "Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone that hit MT Kiku." The Wall Street Journal (Center bias) and BBC News (Center) both emphasized this at the beginning of their coverage. Associated Press (Lean Left) mentioned this detail later on and framed it as an accusation from President Trump. The Journal said Iran "didn't specifically claim responsibility" but said it "carried out strikes against American targets and reasserted control over traffic in the strait." BBC News referred to the event simply as "a drone strike."

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Exchanged Strikes: CENTCOM said that in response, it struck 10 Iranian military targets near the strait. Iran said the US strikes came under "the pretext of the IRGC Navy confronting the offending ship." In retaliation, Iran said it destroyed "eight key pieces of infrastructure" in Kuwait and Bahrain. AP highlighted that the two countries host US forces. Kuwait said it intercepted Iranian drones and two ballistic missiles. Bahrain said the strikes damaged a residential building near its international airport, but that no one was killed. A preliminary report from Reuters (Center) said a US official told the outlet there were no casualties or major damage to US sites.

For Context: The US also struck Iran on Friday after a drone struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran threatened a response. The two countries signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU) on June 17 that allotted 60 days for the two to negotiate a final ceasefire. Last weekend, Vice President JD Vance held direct talks with an Iranian delegation in Switzerland. Though the ceasefire calls for a cessation of hostilities in the country, Israel initially continued bombing Lebanon. On Friday, the US, Israel, and Lebanon announced a framework to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon and set up a process for an eventual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

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