US strikes Iranian sites after cargo ship drone attack

The United States launched military strikes against targets in southern Iran on June 26, 2026, in response to what it described as an Iranian drone attack on a commercial cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. The strikes targeted Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar installations, marking a significant escalation between the two nations despite a ceasefire agreement reached earlier in the month.

According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the immediate trigger was a one-way attack drone that struck the Singapore-flagged cargo ship MV Ever Lovely on June 25 while it was transiting near the Omani coast. U.S. officials called the ship attack an unwarranted aggression and a violation of the ceasefire. CENTCOM released a video it said showed the subsequent U.S. strikes, framing the action as a necessary defense of freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical shipping lanes, through which nearly one-fifth of global oil exports pass.

Iranian officials presented a starkly different account, denying that any drone activity occurred in the strait at the time. Instead, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy stated it had conducted retaliatory...