US CENTCOM says forces struck Iranian targets after drone attack

The U.S. Central Command announced that, on the orders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, American forces carried out new strikes on multiple Iranian targets on July 27. The attacks followed a previous U.S. response to Iran's drone strike on the tanker M/V Ever Lovely and were intended to pressure Tehran after it rejected a cease‑fire offer. Iranian forces used a suicide drone at 4:30 a.m. Eastern time to hit the Panama‑flagged oil tanker M/T Kiku, which was carrying more than two million barrels of crude near the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM said U.S. aircraft targeted Iran's military surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air‑defense sites, drone depots and maritime mining capabilities, while commercial shipping through the strait continues under U.S. protection.