US, Iran clash again while US says no intention of escalation

Tehran: Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has said that the US army attacked two Iranian vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and concurrently carried out airstrikes on civilian areas in southern Iran in cooperation with some regional states.

The attacks by the US “aggressive and terrorist” army violated the ceasefire between Iran and the United States, said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the headquarters’ spokesman, according to Iranian media.

One of the targeted vessels was an oil tanker sailing from Iran’s territorial waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, while the other was entering the waterway near Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Zolfaghari said, adding that the targeted civilian areas included Bandar-e Khamir and Sirik, both in Hormozgan province, Xinhua news agency reported.

He noted that Iran’s armed forces immediately retaliated by attacking US military vessels east of the Strait of Hormuz and south of Iran’s Chabahar port, causing significant damage.

He warned that Iran would give a crushing response to any aggression without any hesitation.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Navy said early Friday that Iranian forces carried out a “large-scale and precise combined operation” using ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles and explosive drones targeting US destroyers.

It added that intelligence assessments indicated “significant damage” to US vessels, prompting three destroyers to retreat from the Strait of Hormuz area.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that US forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defence strikes as their Navy ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM added that it “does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces.”

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that no damage was done to the three world-class American destroyers that just transited out of the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Iran suffered great damage and threatened that future attacks would be “a lot harder, and a lot more violent.”

Meanwhile, Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin quoted a senior US official saying that the US military carried out strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Port and Bandar Abbas, but added that it was not a restarting of the war or an end to the ceasefire, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, Trump announced that Project Freedom, the US military operation to guide commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, would be paused to see whether a peace deal could be reached with Tehran.

IANS