While Washington and Tehran were still discussing a possible temporary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and suspend fighting, clashes resumed on Thursday, May 7 in one of the most sensitive maritime areas in the world.
The US claims that three of their ships were targeted by missiles, drones, and small Iranian boats during their passage through the strait. A few hours later, the US military announced strikes against several Iranian military installations.
According to the US Central Command for the Middle East, no American ships were hit. Washington says they intercepted all attacks before targeting Iranian military sites responsible for attacks against US forces, including missile and drone launch bases, command centers, as well as intelligence and surveillance facilities.
Donald Trump confirmed the operation in a long post on Truth Social. The US president claims the three American ships crossed the strait successfully despite Iranian fire and states that US forces inflicted significant damage on the attackers. They were completely destroyed with many small boats, he writes, before asserting that Iranian missiles were easily shot down and drones burned in flight.
Donald Trump also refers to Iranian leaders as madmen and claims they would use nuclear weapons without hesitation if given the opportunity. We will hit them much harder and much more violently in the future if they do not sign their agreement, and QUICKLY!
A possible new 30-day ceasefire
Despite this escalation, Donald Trump insists that the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect. They played with us today. We swept them away, he declared a few hours later in front of journalists.
On the Iranian side, authorities accuse Washington of violating the ceasefire first. The Iranian military claims that the US carried out strikes on several locations in the south of the country, including around Bandar Abbas and the island of Qeshm, at the heart of the Strait of Hormuz.
Furthermore, the air defense of the United Arab Emirates was in action on Friday morning against drones and missiles fired from Iran, announced the Ministry of Defense. The air defenses of the United Arab Emirates are engaging in combat against missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, the Emirati ministry wrote in a statement. The Ministry of Defense confirms that the noises heard in various parts of the country are due to the interception by the air defense systems of the United Arab Emirates of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.
The resumption of these military exchanges comes even as indirect discussions continue between Washington and Tehran to try to avoid a total resumption of the conflict. According to several Iranian officials cited by the New York Times, the two sides were still exchanging proposals around a temporary agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic and suspend hostilities for thirty days.
But the main sticking point remains the Iranian nuclear program. The US is demanding a sustainable halt to uranium enrichment and the transfer of the Iranian stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
