American forces have hit targets inside Iran for the second time in days, this time taking out four drones and hitting a control site near the key oil chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz, a US official tells outlets including NBC News and the AP. The drones, described as one-way attack models operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were assessed as an immediate danger to US troops in the area and to commercial vessels, prompting what the Pentagon is calling defensive strikes near the port city of Bandar Abbas. The US also struck a ground control station there after determining a fifth drone was about to launch, according to the official, who stressed the operation was "limited" and not a return to broad combat with Iran.
Iranian state TV reported three predawn explosions near Bandar Abbas that briefly activated air defenses and said the cause was under investigation. Tehran has accused Washington of breaching a ceasefire in the Hormuz region and the IRGC has pledged a firm response to any violations; Tehran later claimed it hit a US air base in retaliation, though it did not say where. Kuwait on Thursday said it had experienced a missile and drone attack, though details were not immediately clear, the AP reports.
The White House, meanwhile, has rejected Iranian state media claims that the US agreed to withdraw forces and ease a naval blockade in exchange for restoring prewar shipping levels through the strait. The US also imposed new sanctions on Iran late Wednesday, the AP reports. They target the newly created agency that approves transit through Hormuz and charges tolls on vessels crossing the strait.
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