US strikes – The U.S. military launched another strike on June 27 against targets in Iran after Tehran allegedly hit a Panama-flagged crude tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation comes after earlier U.S. retaliatory strikes on June 26 and amid a fragile ceasefire t
On a fragile morning when shipping crews expected the lull to hold, the Strait of Hormuz again flashed red.
Around 4:30 a.m. ET Saturday, U.S. Central Command said Iranian forces struck the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku with an attack drone. The tanker was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil near the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s busiest energy chokepoints. Within hours, the U.S. military launched another round of strikes against targets in Iran.
CENTCOM said the operation came at the Commander in Chief’s direction and was carried out in direct response to Iran’s continued attacks on commercial shipping. The command said the U.S. had given Iran “a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement” after retaliatory strikes the day earlier. but that Iran “elected not to” after the latest attack.
In response, U.S. aircraft struck multiple military targets, including surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities, CENTCOM said.
The June 27 strike followed U.S. action on June 26, when American aircraft targeted Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar installations after Iran attacked the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz.
That sequence—one retaliatory strike after another—has left U.S. officials framing the ceasefire as already under strain. After the June 26 attack. President Donald Trump said Iran violated the ceasefire agreement and called the strike “a foolish violation.” In comments to reporters before the initial U.S. retaliation, Trump also told them, “You’ll find out,” when asked whether the ceasefire would hold. Vice President JD Vance later reiterated that the United States had honored the agreement. warning that “violence will be met with violence.”.
CENTCOM said commercial vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz continue and that U.S. forces remain “vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
For markets and everyday consumers, the risk is not theoretical. The war’s cost to the United States has reached $132B for U.S. consumers, with gas prices and Strait of Hormuz tensions keeping financial markets on edge even as commercial traffic resumes under the ceasefire.
Shipping remains the focal point of the standoff. Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said June 27 that a tanker reported being struck by a projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. sustaining damage to its bridge. though all crew members were reported safe. The Joint Maritime Information Center also raised its maritime security threat level following the recent attacks.
The Strait of Hormuz has stayed at the center of the conflict since fighting erupted between the United States. Israel and Iran earlier this year. Even with traffic moving again. repeated attacks on merchant vessels threaten to undercut any push toward normal shipping through the waterway—turning every report of a hit into a question of what comes next.
In the background, the ceasefire’s fragility is now measured in timing: a day after U.S. retaliatory strikes on June 26, the next alleged attack drew another U.S. response on June 27. The result is a widening gap between the promise of restraint and the reality of ongoing strikes that keep commercial crews. energy markets. and Washington’s next move tightly linked.
Strait of Hormuz U.S. strikes Iran CENTCOM ceasefire M/T Kiku M/V Ever Lovely drone attack energy markets gas prices shipping security Iran missile and drone storage