WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning to Tehran after U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets and accused Iran of breaking a fragile ceasefire with new attacks on commercial shipping near the Strait of Hormuz.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said American aircraft had hit “Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” He said continued attacks could force Washington to “militarily complete the job” it had started. “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist,” he wrote.
The warning followed a U.S. Central Command announcement of additional strikes inside Iran on June 27, ordered by the president. CENTCOM said the operation came after an Iranian one-way attack drone hit the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku at about 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The ship was transiting near the strait with more than two million barrels of crude. Maritime reports later said the drone struck the starboard bridge wing, the crew was safe and no oil spilled.
That strike came a day after an attack on the Singapore-flagged M/V Ever Lovely, which CENTCOM said was hit by a drone near the Omani coast. U.S. aircraft had already struck missile and drone storage sites and coastal radars after that incident. CENTCOM said Iran was then given a chance to honor the ceasefire and instead launched the drone at the Kiku.
The June 27 follow-up, CENTCOM said, targeted surveillance infrastructure, communications, air-defense sites, drone storage and mine-laying capabilities. The command later said Navy and Air Force jets hit 10 Iranian military targets in and near the strait. Commercial transits continued, it added, and U.S. forces would “remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
The clashes tested a June 17 memorandum of understanding that called for an immediate halt to military operations and up to 60 days of talks toward a broader deal. The text also called on Iran to make its best efforts to keep commercial traffic moving through Hormuz for 60 days. The waterway remains one of the world’s main oil corridors; even brief disruptions can move crude and gasoline prices.
Washington said attacks on merchant ships were ceasefire violations that required a military reply. The same agreement had been sold as a pause to open space for diplomacy. Within days, both the pause and the shipping pledge were under strain.
Energy markets watched the strait closely. Trump has repeatedly tied the conflict to oil prices and to reopening commercial traffic. For military planners, the question was whether another drone against a tanker would trigger a wider campaign. For Iran, another exchange risked undoing the truce both sides had just signed.
The next moves in Hormuz—another ship hit, another radar strike, or a return to quiet transit—will show whether the memorandum was a foundation for talks or only a brief halt in a war that had already resumed at sea.
