Iran says US attacks Iranian vessels, civilian areas

TEHRAN — Iran’s main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said Thursday night the US army attacked two Iranian vessels near the Strait of Hormuz and concurrently carried out airstrikes on civilian areas in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan and Qeshm Island 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, and the other was entering the waterway near Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Zolfaghari said, adding that the targeted civilian areas were located in Bandar-e Khamir and Sirik, both in Hormozgan province.

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 to them.

He said the United States and those countries supporting it should know that Iran will give a crushing response to any aggression without any hesitation.

Iranian media reported Thursday night several explosions in Iran’s southern cities and the capital Tehran.

The official news agency IRNA reported that two massive sounds were heard west of Tehran, followed by the activation of air defense for several minutes.

The semi-official Mehr news agency reported a US and Israeli attack on a naval base in Minab County in Hormozgan province early Friday.

It quoted Minab’s Governor Mohammad Radmehr as saying that no one was killed or wounded in the attack.

Iran, the United States, and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting that started with US and Israeli attacks on Feb 28.