President Donald Trump has ordered a second wave of retaliatory strikes against Iran after Tehran attacked a commercial tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to unravel the fragile ceasefire agreed earlier this month.
American warplanes targeted Iranian surveillance systems, communications infrastructure, air defence sites, drone storage facilities and minelaying equipment in what US Central Command described as a direct response to continued aggression against commercial shipping.
"CENTCOM forces launched strikes today in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping," the command said.
"Commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue. US forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready."
The operation marks the second consecutive round of tit-for-tat strikes between Washington and Tehran in less than 48 hours, raising fears the interim peace agreement is beginning to collapse.
Iran targeted a commercial cargo vessel on Thursday, prompting the first round of US retaliatory strikes on Friday night against missile, drone and radar sites along Iran's coastline.
Tehran then responded on Saturday by launching drones at a US military base in Bahrain, an attack condemned by the Bahraini government as a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Vice President JD Vance warned the Iranian regime that any further violations would be met with force.
"If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they should pick up the phone," he wrote on social media.
"Otherwise violence will be met with violence."
Mr Trump also accused Tehran of having "foolishly" broken the ceasefire by attacking the tanker.
The interim agreement gives Iran a 60-day window to restore unrestricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz, although uncertainty remains over whether Tehran would later be permitted to impose transit fees on commercial vessels.
The 13-mile-wide waterway carries around a fifth of the world's oil supplies and had been effectively closed during more than three months of conflict after repeated drone and missile attacks halted tanker movements.
Washington has encouraged commercial shipping to use routes closer to Omani waters, while Iran has sought to direct vessels nearer to its own coastline, where it has pushed to exert greater control over maritime traffic.
The Trump administration has also reportedly offered Iran up to $300billion in funding if it abandons its nuclear programme and pursues peaceful relations with the international community.
Commercial traffic through the Strait had begun recovering before the latest escalation.
Shipping data from Kpler showed 73 vessels passed through the waterway on Wednesday and a further 54 on Thursday.
However, the renewed fighting is expected to prompt many operators to avoid the route until security conditions improve.
Britain's Maritime Trade Operations agency confirmed a tanker had been struck on Saturday but did not identify who was responsible.
Iranian state television claimed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired "warning shots" at ships using what it described as unauthorised navigation channels.
The latest exchange comes as concerns mount that the ceasefire, brokered only weeks ago, is at growing risk of unravelling unless both sides step back from further military action.
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