Strait of Hormuz: US, Iran exchange missile fire as tension rises

The United States exchanged missile fire with Iran on Thursday as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz ratcheted up, threatening an already fragile cease-fire.

The US Central Command, CENTCOM, stated that American forces had intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes while the US Navy guided-missile destroyers were traversing the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

Central Command, in a statement, said Iranian forces launched multiple missiles, drones and small-boat attacks as three US warships were transiting the strait.

According to the Central Command, none of the American naval vessels were hit.

Reports have it that the US vessels that were traversing the strait were the USS Truxtun, the USS Rafael Peralta and the USS Mason.

The warships, reports said, had steamed into the Persian Gulf earlier in the week as part of the Navy’s short-lived effort to guide merchant ships stranded in the Persian Gulf through the strait.

In response, US officials said that the US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island and Bandar Abbas along the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz.

DAILY POST reports that it was the latest twist in a head-spinning week in the region, as President Donald Trump, searching for an off-ramp in the war that he started February 28, has contradicted his senior administration officials on the state of the war, the state of American efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the status of peace talks with Iran.