In response to yesterday’s Iranian attack on a Taiwanese boxship in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. forces have conducted an airstrike on Iranian territory. Sources differ on the scope of the attack, but – like the White House before it – Iran’s IRGC is treating it as a violation of the recent ceasefire MOU.
According to U.S. Central Command, U.S. aircraft hit Iranian missile and drone storage areas and coastal radars in retaliation for the attack on the boxship Ever Lovely. “The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
The Iranian government news network IRIB reports that “two projectiles have struck a telecommunications tower in the Sirik area,” but did not confirm the damages claimed by CENTCOM. Independent social media accounts have issued reports of explosions in the Sirik region, without specifics.
Iran’s IRGC said in a brief statement that it considers the ceasefire MOU to be “officially violated.” It claimed various breaches of four clauses in the MOU, including the deal’s provisions for a ceasefire on all fronts of the clash.
Behind the rhetoric and the limited exchange of fire, it appears that the U.S. and Iran have begun to use an open hotline to communicate directly and control escalation, according to Amwaj Media. The newly-created hotline mechanism is limited to civilian diplomatic exchanges so far, not military-to-military contact, and is only conducted by phone – not in person. It appears that its first use was to manage the cycle of retaliation that began with the strike on Ever Lovely, Amwaj reports – an indication of coordinated demonstrations of military strength, calibrated for messaging.
Later in the day, Iranian sources claimed to have conducted retaliatory strikes on U.S. Army positions in the region. According to the Iran-affiliated account Hormuz Letter, the IRGC has threatened that if commercial ships again use the central Omani transit lane – not the IRGC-administered northern lane – then “our response will be broader than this.”
Internal unrest
Iranian and Kurdish sources have reported a skirmish in the border region of Baneh, near majority-Kurdish areas of Iraq. The militant group YRK reported an attack by Iranian drones near Baneh, resulting in damage to several farms but no casualties among Kurdish fighters.
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On Friday, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) reportedly conducted a counterattack on an IRGC checkpoint between Baneh and Saqqez. The IRGC-affiliated Sepah News reports that two Iranian guards were killed and five wounded in an ambush.
President Donald Trump has previously claimed to have dispatched arms to Kurdish fighters in the region in order to support a possible uprising against the Iranian regime. The PJAK – considered a terrorist group by Turkey and Iran because of its advocacy for Kurdish territorial independence – has denied receiving American support.
