U.S. launches retaliatory strikes on Iran sites after vessel attacked

UPDATE, 5:34 p.m.:

The United States launched airstrikes against a number of Iranian military sites Friday evening, according to U.S. Central Command. U.S. aircraft hit Iranian missile and drone storage locations, as well as coastal radar sites, one day after Iran launched an attack against a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command did not provide any additional information Friday evening about the U.S. attacks.

Do we know any more about the vessel Iran attacked on Thursday? The U.S. military identified that vessel as the M/V Ever Lovely, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship that was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast when it was struck by an Iranian one-way attack drone, according to U.S. Central Command. The U.S. military characterized the attack as dangerous and unwarranted aggression on the part of Iran.

President Donald Trump  on Friday morning characterized Iran's Thursday attack as a foolish violation of its ceasefire with the United States.

Original story:

A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships from the Strait of Hormuz Thursday after a vessel was struck. An unknown projectile damaged the cargo vessel’s bridge, damaging the bridge, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. No deaths or injuries were reported. Several news outlets reported on a claim, attributed to an anonymous U.S. official, that an Iranian drone struck the vessel.

WORLD reached out to the U.S. Central Command and the White House for comment, but did not hear back immediately on Thursday morning.

Following the incident, the UN’s International Maritime Organization halted its mission to evacuate 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Persian Gulf region. The vessel that was hit had not been operating under the UN’s evacuation framework, the organization said. Evacuations will be halted until the safety of the ships can be confirmed, it added. Before the pause, several vessels were successfully evacuated, according to the organization.

While Iran has not claimed responsibility, the strike followed after the country’s military warned earlier Thursday that ships would only be given safe passage via Iranian routes. At a White House Rose Garden dinner Thursday evening, President Donald Trump remarked that the Strait of Hormuz remained open.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s story on proposed inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities.