ISTANBUL (Bernama-Anadolu): Iran strongly condemned what it described as a US military strike near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Thursday, accusing Washington of repeatedly violating the ceasefire and threatening regional countries, Anadolu Ajansi reported Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the US attack near Bandar Abbas, carried out in the early hours of Thursday, constituted a "flagrant violation” of international law and the UN Charter.
Baghaei said the UN Security Council was obligated to fulfill its legal responsibility by holding the US accountable for what he described as aggression against Iran’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
He also accused Washington of continuously violating the ceasefire that took effect on April 8, citing attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf region and international waters, as well as recent aerial strikes on southern Iran.
The spokesperson stressed Iran’s determination to take "all necessary measures” to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Baghaei also condemned what he described as threatening rhetoric by US officials against Iran and several regional countries, while expressing solidarity with Oman.
He said threats of the "destruction” of a UN member state, such as Oman, which has played a constructive and responsible role in regional peace and diplomatic mediation efforts, represented a dangerous normalisation of "lawlessness and bullying” in international relations.
Earlier Thursday, a US official told Anadolu that US forces had shot down four Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz and struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was allegedly preparing to launch another drone.
The official described the US actions as "measured” and "purely defensive,” saying they were intended to maintain the ceasefire.
In response to the US attack, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted a US airbase in Kuwait in retaliation for what it described as an American aerial strike near Bandar Abbas Airport.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC said the retaliatory strike came hours after US aerial projectiles allegedly struck an area near the airport in the southern port city.
The latest tensions come amid ongoing efforts to reach a broader agreement following the war that erupted on Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, prompting retaliatory Iranian drone and missile attacks across the region and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, though negotiations in Islamabad failed to produce a permanent settlement. US President Donald Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while continuing restrictions on vessels linked to Iranian ports. -- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
