Iran says it struck US-linked targets over MoU breach

TEHRAN -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday strongly condemned US airstrikes the previous night on multiple targets along Iran's southern coast.

The "brutal" US airstrikes, which targeted Iran's coastal surveillance facilities, are a "flagrant violation" of the United Nations Charter and the recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries, said the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

It added that Israel also launched strikes on Lebanon in coordination with the United States, blatantly violating the same MoU, noting that Iran's armed forces have carried out retaliatory strikes against targets affiliated with US forces.

The ministry warned all regional states not to allow the use of their territories by hostile parties to attack Iran.

The US Central Command said in a post on social media platform X early Saturday that its forces had 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 added that the "unwarranted aggression" against commercial shipping by Iranian forces "clearly violated the ceasefire."

Later in the day, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement that its naval forces had struck the US Army's positions in the West Asia region in retaliation for the US airstrikes against southern Iranian regions.

The IRGC said that Iran prevented a ship from sailing through an "unauthorized" route in the Strait of Hormuz, noting that according to the peace MoU, Iran is in charge of managing the maritime traffic in the strait.

The developments came as Iran and the United States signed an MoU on June 18 on ending the war in the region on all fronts, including Lebanon, and are currently in the midst of negotiations to reach a final agreement.