US military says it struck multiple targets in Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Saturday it had struck multiple targets in Iran at President Donald Trump’s direction, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the war’s uneasy ceasefire.

U.S. Central Command, in a post to social media, said that U.S. military aircraft targeted Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a merchant vessel early on Saturday morning.

The incident follows a similar back and forth that occurred just days prior when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman on Thursday and the U.S. military retaliated with strikes the next day.

U.S. Central Command said that Iranian forces attacked the oil tanker Kiku with a one-way drone. The tanker was laden with more than two million barrels of crude oil and sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military said that “Iran had a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement” but “elected not to” when its forces attacked the Kiku.

Iran state TV reported explosions in an area just north of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Toropin reported from Washington, Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.