The U.S. military on Friday said its forces struck and “disabled” two Iranian-flagged oil tankers to stop them pulling into an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
The attacks on the ships near the Strait of Hormuz cast more doubt on a tenuous ceasefire that the Trump administration insists is still holding. Washington is awaiting Tehran’s response to the latest U.S. proposals on a peace deal.
“U.S. forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran,” said U.S. Central Command commander Brad Cooper in a written statement.
Recent days have seen the U.S. and Iran exchange fire, despite a monthlong ceasefire which U.S. President Donald Trump maintains is “still in effect.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. was expecting a response from Iran on a peace proposal, with media reports quoting him on Friday as saying: “We’re expecting a response from them today at some point … I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do. … The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation.”
Trump has warned the U.S. would “knock [Iran] out a lot harder, and a lot more violently,” if Tehran does not accept a peace deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday accused the U.S. of opting for a “reckless military adventure” every time a “diplomatic solution is on the table.”
“Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire?” he wrote on X. “Whatever the causes, outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure.”
