Less than two weeks after the United States and Iran signed a fragile interim ceasefire to end a four-month conflict that upended global maritime trade and roiled international energy markets, the hard-won truce is now facing severe strain. Fresh tit-for-tat strikes have reignited tensions between the two powers, with both sides accusing one another of violating the terms of the peace agreement in a dispute over shipping access through the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz.
The cycle of violence began on Saturday, when the U.S. military carried out airstrikes against 10 Iranian military targets located in Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh, and Qeshm Island. U.S. Central Command said the operation was launched in retaliation for an Iranian drone attack on the Panama-flagged oil tanker *Kiku* that occurred earlier the same day near the strait. According to Reuters reporting, the *Kiku* was attempting to traverse an alternative shipping lane along Oman’s coastline, a bypass route that operates separate from the waterway regulated by Iranian authorities.
This attack was not an isolated incident. It followed another tit-for-tat exchange just three days prior, when a drone struck the Singapore-registered container ship *Ever Lovely* on Thursday. The U.S. responded to that incident with strikes near Sirik, and Iran retaliated by targeting American military outposts across the Persian Gulf.
Shortly after Saturday’s U.S. strikes, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the operation in a social media post, noting that American forces had targeted Iranian missile and drone storage facilities as well as coastal radar sites. Trump warned that Washington could soon reach a breaking point where it would no longer act with restraint. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” he wrote.
Early on Sunday, Iran launched its retaliatory attack, firing missiles and drones at U.S. military installations stationed in Kuwait and Bahrain. Within an hour of Iran’s assault, Kuwait’s army confirmed its air defense systems were engaging the incoming hostile missiles and drones, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry reported air raid sirens had been activated across the country. Both Kuwait and Bahrain publicly condemned Iran’s attack, labeling it a clear violation of their national sovereignty.
In a statement carried by Iran’s state-run Press TV, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) emphasized that the U.S. strikes had already violated the ceasefire agreement. The IRGC warned that any additional American attacks would lead to the full suspension of all diplomatic negotiations aimed at securing a permanent end to hostilities. The IRGC Navy Command added that U.S. military bases across the region “will experience hell in the coming days” if hostilities continue.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi clarified Tehran’s position on Sunday, stressing that Iran retains full control and oversight of the Strait of Hormuz for the next 30 days. Once all outstanding barriers are resolved, he said, full shipping capacity through the waterway will be restored. “Any fresh military escalation will worsen the situation, delay the full reopening of the strait and push tensions even higher,” Araghchi added, issuing a warning to outside powers against interfering in the region’s affairs.
The core dispute at the heart of the renewed tensions centers on shipping access through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that historically carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s total oil and natural gas shipments. Washington has pushed for the creation of a new southern shipping corridor off Oman’s coast to allow unregulated transit, while Tehran insists all vessels passing through the strait must use its designated shipping channel. Iran maintains that any attempt to use alternative routes directly violates the terms of the interim ceasefire.
Even amid escalating tensions, the French shipping giant CMA CGM confirmed that one of its container ships, the *Galapagos*, successfully sailed out of the strait on Sunday morning. The company described the transit as “an important milestone in a regional context that remains complex.”
While hostilities have reignited, some regional security analysts remain cautiously optimistic that the conflict can still be contained. Wolfgang Pusztai, a Vienna-based defense analyst, noted that the limited scope of retaliatory strikes from both sides indicates neither Washington nor Tehran is currently seeking full-scale war. “The scale of retaliatory strikes from both Iran and the US does not signal either side intends all-out war. To my mind, there remains room for a negotiated diplomatic settlement,” Pusztai told Al Jazeera, though he acknowledged that unintended full-scale escalation cannot be completely ruled out.