US strikes Iran tankers as UAE reports fresh missile, drone attacks

The United States carried out strikes on Iranian oil tankers on Friday after renewed clashes threatened to upend a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, as the US awaits an Iranian response to its latest proposal for a deal to end their war.

US Central Command said on Friday that it had “disabled” two empty Iranian oil tankers, the M/T Sea Star III and M/T Sevda, as they attempted to reach an Iranian port. It said it had carried out the action by "firing precision munitions into their smokestacks, preventing the non-compliant ships from entering Iran.” CENTCOM said its actions were in line with enforcing the ongoing US blockade on Iranian ports and ships. 

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Italy on Friday that Washington expected to receive Iran’s response to a US proposal. “We're expecting a response from them today at some point … I hope it's a serious offer, I really do,” he said.

An Iranian official told Al-Monitor’s Elizabeth Hagedorn on Wednesday that there has been progress on determining the “framework for negotiations” but that nothing has been finalized. 

Responding to the latest strikes, Rubio said the United States was acting in response to Iranian attacks: “We didn’t fire, they fired on us,” he said.

As Washington awaits Tehran’s response, tensions between Iran and the United Arab Emirates escalated sharply overnight. On Friday, the UAE’s Ministry of Defense said that its systems had engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones launched from Iran. The ministry did not specify whether all the drones and missiles were successfully shot down, but did state that they had resulted in three “moderate injuries.”

The UAE’s announcement came just hours after an earlier exchange between the US military and Iranian military in the Strait of Hormuz that began Thursday night. 

On Thursday, the US carried out what it described as retaliatory strikes on Iranian military facilities. The US military said that it had “eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces including missile and drone launch sites; command and control locations; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes.”

Iranian media reported explosions on Thursday night on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, and Bandar Abbas, a port city on the coast of the strait.

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, President Donald Trump said that Iran had attempted to attack three US Navy destroyers in the strait. 

“There was no damage done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers. They were completely destroyed along with numerous small boats, which are being used to take the place of their fully decapitated Navy. These boats went to the bottom of the Sea, quickly and efficiently. Missiles were shot at our Destroyers, and were easily knocked down. Likewise, drones came, and were incinerated while in the air,” he wrote. 

Trump added that “we’ll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don’t get their Deal signed, FAST!”

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military command said that the United States had earlier targeted an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz near the UAE's port of Fujairah. The military also said that the US had carried out attacks on "civilian areas" in Iran. Iran’s subsequent attack on the US destroyers appeared to be in response to those alleged strikes.

The latest exchanges are not the first since the ceasefire took effect last month. Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Fujairah overnight Monday, sparking a fire at an oil facility. The UAE said it had intercepted 13 ballistic missiles during the attack.

Following the attack on the UAE, the US military said on Monday that it had destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones as Tehran sought to thwart a US naval effort to help guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump had announced the effort on Sunday evening, but then paused the operation less than 48 hours later in hopes of a deal with Iran. The US blockade on Iranian ports and ships, however, remains in place.

NBC reported on Wednesday that Trump’s halt of the operation came after Saudi Arabia suspended the United States ability to use Saudi bases and airspace for conducting it. Citing US officials, NBC reported that following the announcement of the effort on Sunday, Riyadh told Washington that the US could not use the Prince Sultan Airbase or fly through Saudi airspace for the operation.

Following Monday’s flare up, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, “The ceasefire is not over.” It is unclear whether the attacks on Thursday and Friday spell an end to the ceasefire.