TEHRAN/WASHINGTON, June 27 — The U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military sites Friday, after accusing Iran of attacking a commercial vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, put the fragile ceasefire agreement to the test.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said U.S. President Donald Trump has shown “no commitment” to the principles of negotiation or a ceasefire, Al Jazeera reported Saturday.
Azizi also warned that what he described as a “reckless violation of the ceasefire” would lead to “retreat and regret” on the part of the United States.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday warned Iran it will face “violence” if it carries out any further attacks.
“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence,” Vance wrote on X, reposting the U.S. Central Command announcement of the strikes.
The command post on X said that its forces conducted strikes against Iran Friday night “as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
It vowed to “continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait” while remaining “present and vigilant” to ensure the newly signed U.S.-Iran peace deal is “obeyed, and in full force and effect.”
Earlier Friday, Trump said that Iran violated the ceasefire agreement between the two sides by launching at least four one-way attack drones at commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“One of the Drones solidly hit the upper deck of a large and very expensive Cargo Carrying Ship,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Damage was done, but the Ship was able to proceed on its way,” he said. “We knocked down three other Drones.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope that the Strait of Hormuz could return to its status quo ante, said his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Friday. “I think we have to remain determined. The Strait of Hormuz, prior to the opening of this conflict, actually worked, right? So we know it can, and we should go back to that.”
The Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps on Thursday stressed that the only authorized routes for vessels’ passage through the strait are the ones announced by Iranian authorities, warning that ships’ movement through other routes is prohibited.
The latest exchange of strikes came after Iran and the United States on June 18 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war and are currently in the midst of negotiations to reach a final agreement.
The MoU called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that carried about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war, and required Iran to allow commercial vessels to pass without charge for 60 days.
The latest shipping data pointed to a partial rebound in traffic through the strait following the MoU signing, though current flows remained well below prewar levels. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
