WASHINGTON
\nThe United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, but Iran said the situation returned to normal while the US said it did not want to escalate.The renewed hostilities broke out as Washington was awaiting Iran\u2019s response to a US proposal that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues, such as Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, unresolved for now.
\nIran\u2019s military said the US targeted two ships entering the Strait of Hormuz and carried out strikes on Iranian territory. The US military said it fired in response to Iranian attacks. Trump told reporters the ceasefire was still in effect and sought to play down the exchange. \u201cThey trifled with us today. We blew them away,\u201d Trump said, while inspecting renovations to the Lincoln Memorial\u2019s reflecting pool in Washington.
\nMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s top joint military command accused the US of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and of carrying out air attacks on civilian areas on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the nearby coastal areas of Bandar Khamir and Sirik on the mainland. The military said it responded by attacking US military vessels east of the strait and south of the port of Chabahar.
\nA spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the Iranian strikes inflicted \u201csignificant damage,\u201d but US Central Command said none of its assets were hit. Centcom said Iran had used missiles, drones and small boats in the attack, which targeted three Navy destroyers. The US said it targeted missile and drone sites and other locations in response.
\n\u201cCentcom does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,\u201d it said in a statement.Iran also said it would respond if attacked. \u201c(The) US and its allies must know that Iran will respond forcefully and without the slightest hesitation to any act of aggression or attack,\u201d the military spokesperson said, according to state television.
\nIran\u2019s Press TV later reported that, following several hours of fire, \u201cthe situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the Strait of Hormuz is back to normal now\u201d.The two sides have occasionally exchanged gunfire since the ceasefire took effect on April 7.
\nBefore the latest strikes, the US had floated a proposal that would formally end the conflict but did not address key US demands that Iran suspend its nuclear work and reopen the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil and gas supply.
\nTehran said it had not yet reached a conclusion on the emerging plan.Even so, Trump said Iran had acknowledged his demand that Iran could never get a nuclear weapon, a prohibition he said was spelled out in the US proposal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON The United States and Iran exchanged fire on Thursday in the most serious test yet of their month-long ceasefire, but Iran said the situation returned to normal while the US said it did not want to escalate.The renewed hostilities broke out as Washington was awaiting Iran\u2019s response to a US proposal that would stop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n