US, Iran trade strikes: What to know, will it unravel the MoU?

The United States and Iran have traded strikes in the first such confrontation since a preliminary agreement was reached on June 15 to end the months-long war. Both sides traded blame, accusing each other of violating the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian. At the heart of the latest escalation lies a struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz, which was blocked by Iran in response to the US-Israeli war. Tehran has used the waterway – a global energy chokepoint – as a geostrategic leverage point. So, what’s behind the US strikes on Iranian territory and where has Tehran returned fire? Will it unravel the agreement between the two sides? An Indian sailor shows a picture on his mobile phone of an Iranian missile being fired in the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2026, in Muscat, Oman [Elke Scholiers/Getty Images] Where has the US struck and why? The US Central Command said that the military’s aircraft struck missile and drone storage locations and radar sites along Iran’s southern coastline late on Friday, “as a powerful response to yesterday’s attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz”. On Thursday, a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel, Ever Lovely, was struck by an unknown projectile off Oman’s coast. Iran did not acknowledge the attack, but did not deny it either. …