US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three US destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz that fueled fears on Friday that the truce was faltering.
The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran accused Washington of initiating the firefight.
The latest violence threatens to undo a fragile ceasefire in place since April 8 that ended weeks of US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with attacks across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.
The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that its air defenses were “engaging missile and drone attacks originating in Iran”.
Asked in Washington on Thursday whether the Iran ceasefire was still in effect, Trump said: “Yes, it is. They jumped on us today. We blew them up. They bounced. I call it a little thing.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces fired “multiple missiles, drones and small boats” at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that they “eliminated incoming threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible”.
“CENTCOM is not seeking escalation, but remains positioned and ready to protect US forces,” the statement said.
For its part, Iran’s central military command accused the United States of violating the ceasefire by attacking an oil tanker and another ship, saying Tehran’s forces “immediately and in retaliation attacked American military ships.”
Trump this week fueled hopes of a deal, saying a deal could be close even as he again threatened to return to bombing if Tehran refused to back down.
He doubled down on that stance after Thursday’s clash, posting on his Social Truth platform: “We will bring them down much harder and much more violently in the future if they don’t sign their Accord, FAST!” he said.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Tehran would communicate its position to the Pakistani mediator “after finalizing its views”.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had struck an upbeat tone before Thursday’s shootout, saying in televised remarks: “I strongly believe that this ceasefire will turn into a long-term ceasefire.”
Talks in Lebanon
Any deal between the United States and Iran could also help ease tensions in Lebanon, where a separate ceasefire came under fresh strain after an Israeli strike in southern Beirut killed a commander from the Hezbollah militant group on Wednesday.
A US State Department official confirmed on Thursday that new Israel-Lebanon talks will take place on May 14 and 15.
This will be the third meeting in recent months between the two countries, which technically have been at war for decades and do not have diplomatic relations.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a peace deal between the two sides was “extremely within reach”, insisting that Hezbollah was the sticking point, not any issue between the two governments.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ship, crew stranded
A ceasefire between the two countries, and including Hezbollah, was extended after the latest round of talks in Washington, but Israel has continued its attacks on the group, which has claimed its own attacks on Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 12 people killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Thursday.
After the start of the war with the US-Israeli attacks on February 28, Iran largely closed the Strait of Hormuz.
About 1,500 ships and 20,000 international crew are now stranded in the Gulf region because of the conflict, UN International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told a meeting of the Maritime Convention of the Americas in Panama.
Trump this week had briefly launched a naval operation to force the opening of the strait to commercial shipping, only to withdraw it within hours, citing progress in negotiations with Iran.
The US president – who has criticized Europe for not supporting his war against Iran – said on Thursday he had a “good phone call” with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, saying they were “totally united that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon”.
(sma)
