WASHINGTON/TEHRAN, JUN 27: The United States and Iran traded military strikes after Washington on Friday accused Tehran of attacking a cargo ship, jeopardising a fragile ceasefire as diplomats struggle to contain the Middle East war.

US Central Command said the American strikes, against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions, were a response to “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces” that “clearly violated the ceasefire”.

It described the operation as “a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz”.

Iranian state television, citing a reporter in Sirik, said an explosion was heard late Friday at Taherouyeh pier in the southern port city. It quoted an informed military source as saying the blast was caused by a projectile impact in the area.

US President Donald Trump had earlier denounced what he described as an Iranian drone strike on the vessel, saying: “Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our ceasefire agreement.”

Vice President JD Vance issued a direct warning, posting on X that “violence will be met with violence” if Iran carries out any further attacks.

Minutes later, on Saturday morning, Iran time, state television reported that the Revolutionary Guards said they targeted US sites in the Gulf region in retaliation for the American strikes.

“If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the Guards said, according to a post by state TV on Telegram.

The exchanges raised fresh questions about efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open while Washington and Tehran negotiate a final settlement to a war that began February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iran has warned vessels not to enter or leave the Gulf through the strait without permission, but ships have continued to move, some using a route not authorised by Tehran.

Around half of the 42 vessels that made the passage on Thursday used a non-approved southern route along Oman’s coast, according to tracking platform Kpler.

The UN maritime agency said an evacuation operation had freed 115 vessels and 2,500 seafarers trapped by the dispute before the attack forced its suspension.

Oil prices nevertheless fell sharply, reflecting hopes that traffic through Hormuz — a strategic waterway which normally sees around a fifth of the world´s oil and gas exports — would keep recovering despite the latest flare-up.

Lebanon framework
Israel and Lebanon hailed an agreement signed with the US to pave a way towards peace on their front in the war, although Hezbollah warned the deal would thwart plans to resolve the broader conflict.

At a Washington signing ceremony, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, flanked by Israeli and Lebanese envoys, said the trilateral accord “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security.”

“It’s the beginning of the beginning. There’s a lot of work ahead,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the framework as a victory against Iran, which argues the Lebanon front is inseparable from the wider war and should be resolved as part of US-Iran talks.

“Iran has been trying to force us to withdraw from southern Lebanon through pressure but, in effect, Israel, Lebanon, and the United States are telling them: this is none of your business,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu said the agreement would allow the Lebanese army to return to two “pilot areas” in southern Lebanon, but that Israeli forces would remain in their security zone until Hezbollah is disarmed. Displaced civilians would be prevented from returning.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun welcomed the unpublished framework as a “first step” toward civilians returning home “under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state.

But Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut late Friday to protest the agreement.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said the Washington signing sought to undercut the US-Iran ceasefire, which he said envisioned Lebanon being settled through the wider peace process.

The Lebanese government, he warned, would be unable to impose the agreement “unless they go, with American support, to civil war”.

Nuclear safeguards
Meanwhile the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief warned that any final US-Iran settlement would need strong safeguards to ensure Tehran does not build a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s nuclear programme remains a central sticking point, with Tehran and Washington giving conflicting accounts of whether inspectors will regain access to the Islamic republic’s facilities.

“The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said of developing nuclear weapons.

“But of course, intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place… as soon as is practicable.”

The interim agreement says Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium — estimated pre-war at 440 kilograms (970 pounds), enriched to 60% — should be “downblended”.

WASHINGTON, JUN 26: Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries.

The agreement – details of which were not announced – is the result of five rounds of talks in Washington aimed at ending decades of hostilities and weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The agreement “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony.

Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, said the accord “is a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities (and) enabling our people to go back to their land.”

And Israel’s envoy to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said that under the deal, “Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in.”

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel then launched devastating air strikes and an invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,200 people.

Under US pressure, Lebanese officials began direct talks in April with Israel in Washington, and a truce was announced on April 17 that ultimately failed to stop the fighting.

A new ceasefire was declared this month as Tehran insisted that its deal with Washington to end the broader conflict launched by the United States and Israel in late February must include Lebanon.

WASHINGTON, JUN 26: US President Donald Trump on Friday slammed Iran for carrying out a drone attack in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish” violation of the ceasefire in the Middle East war.

“One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship” while three others were shot down, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, in an apparent reference to an attack on a vessel the day before.

“Obviously, this is a foolish violation of our Ceasefire Agreement,” Trump added.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO announced on Thursday that a cargo ship in the strait was “hit on the starboard side by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the bridge,” but reported no casualties.

It said the incident occurred just 7.5 nautical miles (14 kilometers) off Oman’s coast.

The secretary general of the UN’s International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, then announced the suspension of efforts to evacuate some 600 ships and 11,000 sailors trapped in the Gulf by the war, which was launched by the US and Israel on February 28.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8, but sporadic violence has continued in the Gulf region, including attacks on ships by Tehran’s forces and US strikes on Iran.

WASHINGTON, JUN 26: John Bolton, a former national security adviser for US President Donald Trump who has since become one of his fiercest critics, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to mishandling classified information and faces up to five years in prison.

“I’m sorry for it,” Bolton told US District Judge Theodore D. Chuang during the hearing.

Reuters previously reported that Bolton would plead guilty under a deal with prosecutors that included a sentencing range from no prison time to as many as five years behind bars, with the final sentence to be determined by a judge.

As part of the agreement, Bolton agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine. Bolton, 77, must make half that payment within five days of sentencing and the full payment within 90 days of sentencing.

He also committed to up to 100 hours of community service and to meet with intelligence and Justice Department officials for a debriefing. Bolton will also forfeit his government pension.

Chuang scheduled sentencing for October.

Bolton is accused of sharing sensitive information with two relatives for possible use in a memoir he was writing, including notes on intelligence briefings and meetings with senior government officials and foreign leaders. He pleaded not guilty to 18 criminal charges last year.

The book detailed Bolton’s tenure as Trump’s national security advisor during his first term. In the book, Bolton described the president as unfit for office, sparking a public feud. But prosecutors said Friday that no classified information was published in Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened.”

Authorities said Bolton’s personal email was hacked by someone believed to be linked to Iran, which prosecutors reiterated Friday.

Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term in office, is one of several notable political opponents who have faced prosecution from Trump’s Justice Department, erasing longstanding norms that had separated law enforcement efforts from partisan considerations.

But unlike other cases brought against Trump critics, the Bolton investigation began before Trump returned to office in 2025 and had the backing of career federal prosecutors.

ABU DHABI, JUN 26: UAE residents received a phone alert from the interior ministry warning of a “potential missile threat” on Friday, which was lifted shortly after – the first such warning in more than a month.

The ministry later sent a notification to “disregard the previous warning,” which appeared to be a false alarm.

Some residents, however, had received another missile alert before the disregard message.

“Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, immediately seek a safe place,” the interior ministry said in the phone notification, before sending another alert stating that “the situation is currently safe. You may resume your normal activities.”