US, Iran trade attacks near Hormuz amid ceasefire

The United States and Iran again exchanged attacks near the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of Thursday amid a ceasefire and ongoing negotiations on ending the war.

The United States military attacked an Iranian position from which drones were being controlled, a U.S. official said.

U.S. forces also shot down four drones that posed a threat to the U.S., the official said, adding that the targeted position in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas had been preparing to launch a fifth drone.

“These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” the official said.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency cited a domestic military source as saying that a U.S. oil tanker had tried to pass through the strait with its radar system switched off.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite force of the Islamic Republic, fired on the tanker and forced it to turn back, the report said.

Iranian media had earlier reported sounds of explosions near Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province, one of Iran’s most important military hubs in the Gulf region and along the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

However, there have been several exchanges of attacks around the Strait of Hormuz since then.

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The IRGC said early on Thursday that it had attacked the U.S. air base from which the U.S. military had fired on an area near Bandar Abbas airport.

The Gulf state of Kuwait reported coming under missile and drone fire.

“The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces confirms that any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile targets,” the military said in a statement posted on X.

There was initially no information on possible damage or casualties.

The Kuwaiti military did not immediately say where the attacks had originated.

After the start of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, Tehran fired missiles and drones at Kuwait and other U.S.-allied Gulf states.

The U.S. military maintains numerous bases around the Gulf. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf states have recently reported isolated renewed attacks even with the ceasefire remaining formally in place.