The U.S. military on the 26th (local time hereafter) launched retaliatory airstrikes in response to Iran's attack on a merchant ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, said on X (formerly Twitter) that it carried out airstrikes as a strong countermeasure against Iran, which attacked a merchant ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, the United States and Iran reached a cease-fire deal on the 14th and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 17th stating that they would immediately and permanently end military operations on all fronts.
But tensions rose again when Iran attacked the Singapore-flagged container ship "Ever Lovely," which was transiting the Strait of Hormuz at dawn on the 25th, with a drone.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of a hard-line response, calling it a "clear and foolish violation of the truce agreement." U.S. Central Command also said Iran's unjustified attack on the merchant ship was a clear breach of the truce.
The next day, U.S. military aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar bases. Military clashes resumed nine days after the cease-fire MOU took effect.
Since the cease-fire MOU was signed, the United States and Iran had been negotiating over Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions on Iran. However, with military clashes between the two countries following Israel's attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the talks appear set to face another crisis.
The U.S. airstrikes on Iran that day are seen as President Trump's message to Iran of "normalizing passage through the Strait of Hormuz."
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Iran's state broadcaster that "the U.S. regime, as always, violated the agreement," adding that "the Revolutionary Guard Navy struck several bases of the U.S. terrorist military in the region."