US CENTCOM says US destroyers repelled Iranian attack in Strait of Hormuz

Iran fired missiles, drones and small boats at three US Navy destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz; no US assets were hit; Centcom struck Iranian launch sites, command posts and surveillance nodes in response. Summary: US Central Command confirmed Iranian forces launched missiles, drones and small boat attacks against USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason as the three guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz, per Centcom Centcom described the Iranian attack as unprovoked and said US forces responded under the right of self-defence, per the official statement No US assets were struck during the engagement, according to Centcom In response, US forces eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities including missile and drone launch sites, per Centcom Command and control locations and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes were also struck, according to the Centcom statement The destroyers were transiting from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman when the attack occurred, per Centcom US Central Command has confirmed that Iranian forces mounted a coordinated, unprovoked attack on three American guided-missile destroyers as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, and that US forces responded with strikes on Iranian military infrastructure responsible for the assault. According to Centcom, USS Truxtun, USS Rafael Peralta and USS Mason were passing through the international sea passage en route to the Gulf of Oman when Iranian forces launched a simultaneous barrage of missiles, drones and small boats against the convoy. The use of all three attack methods in combination points to a deliberate and coordinated military operation rather than an opportunistic engagement, and represents one of the most direct Iranian military actions against US forces in the Gulf in recent memory. Centcom stated that no US assets were struck during the attack, crediting the interception of inbound threats as part of the defensive response. US forces then moved beyond defence, striking Iranian military facilities that Centcom identified as directly responsible for the attack. Targets included missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance nodes, a target set that suggests the US sought to degrade the operational architecture behind the attack rather than simply respond in kind. The geography of the incident carries enormous weight. The Strait of Hormuz is the single most critical chokepoint in global energy markets, with approximately a fifth of the world's seaborne oil supply passing through its waters daily. A direct military exchange between Iranian and US forces inside or adjacent to that passage will be treated by energy markets, shipping operators and regional governments as a fundamental change in the risk environment, regardless of whether the strait remains physically open in the immediate term. Centcom's framing of the Iranian action as unprovoked is notable given the broader context of US strikes on Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island reported earlier, and the competing Iranian narrative that positions its actions as a response to American aggression. The gap between those two accounts will matter enormously in the hours ahead as governments, markets and military planners attempt to assess the trajectory of events. What is not in dispute is that US and Iranian forces have now exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the United States has struck Iranian military targets on multiple fronts in a single operational period. ---- Centcom's confirmation that Iranian forces mounted a coordinated assault using missiles, drones and small boats against US naval assets in the Strait of Hormuz removes any ambiguity about the nature of the confrontation now underway in the world's most consequential oil passage. The targeting of Iranian missile and drone launch sites, command and control infrastructure, and surveillance nodes indicates th