U.S. Strikes Disable Two Iranian Tanker Near Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military said on Friday that its forces struck and disabled two Iranian-flagged oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz. The ships were hit as Washington waited for Tehran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal, keeping the dispute centered on one of the world’s most sensitive shipping lanes.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was expecting an answer from Iran on Friday. The Trump administration said the monthlong ceasefire is still holding, even as the latest strike put fresh pressure on the talks.
Strait of Hormuz strike
The U.S. military said the strikes were intended to stop the ships from pulling into an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman. Brad Cooper, the U.S. Central Command commander, said in a written statement on Friday, “U.S. forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran,” tying the action directly to U.S. enforcement policy.
That leaves the immediate issue for commercial operators and governments alike: vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz now face a U.S. strike that Washington says was aimed at blocking a port call, not at the wider ceasefire itself. The ships were Iranian-flagged, and the location places the event on a route watched closely by shippers and states that rely on uninterrupted passage.
Rubio and Trump pressure Tehran
Rubio said, “We’re expecting a response from them today at some point,” and added, “I hope it’s a serious offer, I really do. … The hope is it’s something that can put us into a serious process of negotiation,” making clear that the diplomatic track remained open on Friday. Donald Trump separately warned the U.S. would “knock [Iran] out a lot harder, and a lot more violently,” if Tehran does not accept a peace deal.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, responded on X by accusing the U.S. of opting for a “reckless military adventure” every time a “diplomatic solution is on the table.” He wrote, “Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire?” and, “Whatever the causes, outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure.”
Tehran’s response and the ceasefire
The friction point is that Washington says a monthlong ceasefire is still in effect while the U.S. military also carried out a strike against Iranian-flagged tankers. That combination leaves the ceasefire intact on paper, but under strain in practice, with the next move shifting to Tehran’s answer to the peace proposal and to how U.S. officials respond if that answer does not arrive as expected.
For now, the immediate next step is diplomatic: Washington is awaiting Tehran’s reply on the peace proposal, and Rubio said that reply was expected on Friday. If Iran answers, the content of that response will determine whether the U.S. says it has a basis for negotiations or whether the pressure campaign tightens further.
