The U.S. military launched a second night of strikes against Iran, targeting military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities, according to Al Jazeera. Explosions were reported in southern Iran, around the village of Tahrui, near the port of Sirik, which was also the focal point of Friday’s U.S. attacks. State media also indicated that Qeshm Island had been hit.

Responses to Cargo Ship Strikes

Saturday’s strikes against Iran followed a similar playbook to Friday’s. Early on Saturday morning, around 4:30am Eastern U.S. time (8:00 GMT), the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz when it was reportedly hit by an unidentified projectile. No crew members were injured, and no leakage was reported from its cargo. CENTCOM said the ship had been carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil when it was hit by a “one-way attack drone.”

The website MarineTraffic.com indicates that the tanker had left the Al Shaheen oil field on Thursday and is due to dock at Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. A similar sequence of events prompted Friday’s volley of U.S. attacks. In that case, a Singapore-registered container ship, the Ever Lovely, was struck by a drone as it sailed through the Hormuz Strait on Thursday. No one on board was injured, and the boat continued on its travels. U.S. President Donald Trump denounced the drone strike on Friday as a “foolish violation” of the June 17 memorandum.

Escalation in the Strait of Hormuz

By that evening, the U.S. and Iran had exchanged fire, with the U.S. targeting the area around Sirik and Iran hitting U.S. military installations in the Middle East. CENTCOM referenced Friday’s actions in announcing the latest round of strikes. U.S. military aircraft targeted Iranian military infrastructure, including missile and drone depots, as well as coastal radars, according to Todo Alicante. This was in response to President Donald Trump’s earlier accusations against Iranian authorities for launching a drone attack on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as a “foolish violation” of the preliminary agreement reached last week.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has fired at least four drones in a one-way attack on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. One struck the upper deck of a large and expensive cargo ship. Although damage occurred, the vessel was able to continue its journey,” the U.S. President wrote on his Truth Social account. He added, “We shot down three other drones. Clearly, this constitutes a reckless violation of our ceasefire agreement.” The American leader referred to an incident involving a ship that occurred just 7.5 nautical miles (14 kilometers) off the coast of Oman.

Impact on Maritime Traffic and International Response

The British maritime security agency (UKMTO) announced last Thursday that a cargo ship in the strait had been “hit on the starboard side by an unknown projectile, causing damage to the bridge,” but reported no casualties. The Secretary-General of the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Domínguez, later announced the suspension of evacuation efforts for around 600 ships and 11,000 sailors trapped in the Gulf due to the war initiated by the United States and Israel on February 28. The incident occurred after more than a week of relative calm in the Strait of Hormuz, following mutual blockades being lifted by Iran and the United States as part of a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in the Middle East.