US launches new strikes on Iran, though Trump claims ceasefire still holds
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Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
The United States launched attacks against targets in Iran on May 7, threatening an already tenuous month-long ceasefire amid ongoing negotiations.
The U.S. military's Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran attacked three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz, though the targets were successfully defended and no U.S. ships were damaged. The Iranian military said the srikes were retaliation for the U.S. firing on an Iranian oil tanker the previous day in violation of the ceasefire.
The U.S. responded to the Iranian strike by targeting "Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking U.S. forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes," according to CENTCOM.
The attacks mark yet another escalation since the U.S. and Iran brokered a truce on April 8, pausing a war that has expanded across the Middle East and driven a surge in global energy markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump told ABC News that the strikes against Iran were "just a love tap."
"The ceasefire is going. It's in effect," he said in a phone call.
In a later post on social media, Trump boasted about the strikes against Iran and the successful transit of the U.S. destroyers through the Strait of Hormuz.
"Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air. They dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!" he wrote.
Iran's state news agency IRNA reported explosions in Tehran and said air defenses were activated over the capital. Iranian forces also said the U.S. launched airstrikes against the southern cities of Qeshm, Bandar Abbas, and Minab.
The strikes come three days after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on May 4 that its air defenses had engaged missiles and drones launched from Iran for the first time since the ceasefire.
Earlier that day, the U.S. said it would escort commercial ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime corridor carrying about one-fifth of global oil trade. Iranian officials previously warned that U.S. plans to escort ships through the strait would constitute a violation of the ceasefire.
