Iran says it attacked US Navy ships after they targeted Iranian tanker

The Iranian military has said it retaliated against United States Navy ships after US forces targeted an oil tanker in Iran’s territorial waters, a major escalation that puts further strain on the fragile truce between Washington and Tehran.

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters added on Thursday that the US also violated the ceasefire by carrying out air strikes on civilian areas, including Qeshm Island, “in cooperation with some regional countries” without identifying them.

The statement claimed that the Iranian response caused “significant damage” to US ships.

“The criminal and aggressor America and its supporting countries should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as powerfully as in the past, will give a crushing response to any aggression without the slightest hesitation,” the Iranian military said.

The clashes represent the first military Iranian response to the blockade that the US has laid on the country’s ports. Over the past weeks, the US military has seized several Iranian vessels and ordered dozens more to turn around.

The naval siege has been the spearhead of Trump’s pressure campaign against Iran since the ceasefire came into effect last month.

Several Iranian state-affiliated news outlets had reported that blasts were heard in the ports of Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas port and the southern coastal city of Minab.

Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim also cited a senior source as saying that three US Navy destroyers came under Iranian fire and fled towards the Gulf of Oman.

The US Central Command declined to comment on the events when reached by Al Jazeera.

The skirmishes come amid reports that Washington and Tehran are in advanced talks to end the war.

Earlier this week, Trump ordered an operation to break Iran’s blockade on Hormuz, leading to heightened tensions that pushed the ceasefire to the brink.

On Monday, the US said it shot down seven small Iranian drones, and Iran renewed its drone and missile attacks against the United Arab Emirates.