On 25 June 2026, Iran launched a drone strike on the Singapore-flagged cargo ship Ever Lovely as it exited the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast. The following day, the United States‘ Central Command struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites near the strait in response, while Iran’s navy said it retaliated by striking unspecified American military positions in the region.
On 27 June, Iran launched a one-way attack drone that hit the Panama-flagged tanker M/T Kiku, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil, near the strait. US Central Command responded the same day with a further wave of strikes on Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities.
Early on 28 June, Iran attacked US military installations in Kuwait and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain with missiles and drones; Kuwait intercepted two ballistic missiles, while Bahrain intercepted one drone and reported a second causing damage to a residential building in Muharraq. A tanker transiting the strait was separately struck by an unidentified projectile, damaging its bridge.
Initial Iranian strike against the Ever Lovely was caused by Iran’s efforts to control commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while Ever Lovely used a route along the Omani coast that had not been approved by Tehran.
Efforts Category: US Military Force against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz (2026); Iran’s Military Force against the US and others in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz (2026); Iran’s Military Force against the US in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, and against these states
Modern Great Game Watch 