Sailors prepare to transport aircraft aboard aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush while sailing in the Arabian Sea, June 20, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
For a second day, U.S. forces struck multiple Iranian targets on Saturday in response to Iranian attacks on another commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command.
An Iranian one-way drone struck the M/T Kiku, a Panamanian-flagged tanker carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude oil, as it transited the strait at noon Saturday, according to a statement on Saturday from CENTCOM.
In response, U.S. military aircraft, “at the Commander in Chief’s direction,” targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities, according to CENTCOM.
The Saturday airstrikes are the latest to test a tentative peace agreement still under negotiation between the two sides. The agreement aimed at ending the war that began Feb. 28 with strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.
“Iran was given a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement but elected not to,” according to CENTCOM on Saturday.
The latest U.S. response followed one Friday, after Iran hit a commercial vessel, the M/V Ever Lovely, the previous day. The U.S. targeted missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites, CENTCOM said Friday.
“I don’t like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them,” President Donald Trump said Friday at the White House shortly before the U.S. strike. The Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack.
“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said Friday. “CENTCOM forces continue to provide safe passage coordination and support to commercial vessels transiting the strait. The U.S. military remains present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect.”
Trump signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17 during dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles following the G7 summit. The agreement is aimed at ending a conflict that has left 13 U.S. service members dead and brought missile and drone attacks to U.S. bases, energy facilities and other critical infrastructure across the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and talk further about the future of Tehran’s nuclear program, a breakthrough that comes after months of fighting that destabilized the Middle East and disrupted global markets.
There were a combined 80 transits through the waterway facilitated by the U.S. on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as 85 other vessel transits during the two-day period, according to a Joint Maritime Information Center report released Thursday. The historical average is 138 per day, it said.
The war prompted one of the largest U.S. military buildups in the Middle East in years. It’s unclear what comes next regarding the U.S. military presence in the region.
This story has been updated.
