Sailors prepare an F/A-18F Super Hornet for launch off the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln on May 31, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
The U.S. began launching a series of strikes against Iran in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships from the United Kingdom that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said.
In a statement posted to X, CENTCOM said U.S. forces launched the strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.”
“Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said.
The strikes occurred early Wednesday in Iran.
On Tuesday, the British military reported three tankers were struck by projectiles in the Strait. Two vessels suffered some damage, but no one was injured, and both continued on their way, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said. The tanker traveling off the coast of Oman caught fire, the U.K. agency said according to The Associated Press.
An interim peace deal deal reached last month has continuously been tested by renewed attacks. Talks to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, to agree on halting Tehran’s disputed nuclear program and on reaching a permanent end to the war that started Feb. 28 are on hold.