The US Military said it shot down 4 Iranian drones that were launched towards the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and also struck IRGCs coastal surveillance radar sites in response to a shaky ceasefire as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran.
The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” US Central Command said on social media. It claimed to have hit the radar sites, including an island in the strait, “to defend against further attacks.”
Subsequently, Iran claimed of firing linked to the repositioning of US naval vessels operating in the Strait of Hormuz. The reported target was located at sea beyond Larak Island, a small island off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s key port city overlooking the strategic waterway.
The development came shortly after a US official said Iran had launched multiple drones toward the Strait of Hormuz, further escalating tensions in the region.
US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was “moving very fast” on the Iran conflict, even as the war entered its third month and approached the 100-day mark since US and Israeli strikes began. In an interview on being asked “What is happening? What is taking so long? The President compared Iran once again to the Vietnam War. He said Iran has only been going on for a little more than three months. The Vietnam War took upwards of 19 years, depending on when you calculate the beginning and the end of the war.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM said that Iran fired seven ballistic missiles towards Kuwait and Bahrain just hours after the US military shot down Iranian attack drones that were launched towards the Strait of Hormuz and also struck Iranian radar sites. “Initial assessments indicate six of the missiles launched by Iran were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its intended target,” CENTCOM said. It also denied Irans claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain during the attack.
Balls of fire were seen in the skies over Kuwait as missile and drone attacks were thwarted, while the sound of sirens rent the air.
Elsewhere, the Israeli army said it intercepted what it described as a “hostile aircraft”, while two others targeted an area where Israeli forces were stationed in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a paramedic was among five people killed in Israeli attacks on Zebdin in southern Lebanon on Friday, with at least a dozen people killed across the country by Israel’s bombardments despite a new ceasefire deal agreed with Lebanese officials. The death toll from Israeli attacks on the country since March 2 has risen to 3,558 people, while 10,870 injured.