US Strikes Iran Again - Ever Lovely Hit in Hormuz, IRGC Hits Back
Six US jets, four targets near Sirik. Trump called it a foolish violation. Then Tehran answered.
The ceasefire was supposed to hold for 60 days. It lasted about a week.
On June 25, a drone slammed into the upper deck of the M/V Ever Lovely - a Singapore-flagged cargo ship sailing out of the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast. Damage to the bridge. No crew killed. The ship kept moving.
Donald Trump called it a “foolish violation” of the deal Washington and Tehran signed last week. Asked what happens next, he said: “You’ll find out.”
We found out fast.
Friday night: US hits Iran
US Central Command said six land-based aircraft struck four targets on June 26:
- missile storage near Sirik
- drone storage
- coastal radar sites
- positions on Qeshm Island
All along Iran’s southern coast, right where the world’s oil traffic squeezes through a 21-mile choke point.
CENTCOM posted on X that the strikes were a “powerful response” to “unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping.”
Iran had fired at least four one-way attack drones at ships in the strait, Trump said. US forces shot down three. One got through.
This was the first US strike on Iran since the two sides extended their memorandum of understanding - the fragile truce that was supposed to pause the war.
Saturday: IRGC fires back
Iran did not wait long.
On June 27, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it hit multiple US military sites across the Gulf - plural, not one base.
Tehran’s foreign ministry called the American strikes a breach of the UN Charter and the war-ending MoU. Iran, it said, had every right to respond.
The IRGC gave no list of targets. No casualty figures. No photos. Just the message: hit us, we hit you back.
Bahrain separately accused Iran of launching drones at the kingdom on Saturday. Iran did not confirm.
Why Hormuz matters more than the headlines
Roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes through this strait. When drones start landing on cargo decks, insurance premiums spike. Ships reroute. Markets twitch.
The IRGC had already said transit would only happen on routes approved by Tehran - essentially a toll booth with missiles.
UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed the Ever Lovely was struck on the starboard side by an unidentified projectile. The IMO had been trying to evacuate stranded vessels from the Gulf. That effort paused.
Talks on Iran’s nuclear program were still on the calendar for the next two months. Whether anyone shows up now is another question.
The line that keeps coming back
Trump’s post-war deal with Iran was always rickety - tit-for-tat strikes, angry statements, then quiet.
This round feels different because it started on a merchant ship, not a military base. Commercial traffic is the target. That is how you turn a regional conflict into a global economic story.
Vance had talked about a direct channel with the IRGC in Hormuz. Iranian media called that false.
So much for the hotline.
The war did not officially restart. But the ceasefire? Hard to call it alive.