US Strikes Iranian Military Sites at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island After IRGC Attacks 3 US Destroyers — Day 69

US forces struck Iranian military facilities at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island on May 7, 2026 — Day 69 — after Iran fired missiles, drones, and deployed small boats against three US Navy guided-missile destroyers transiting the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM framed the strikes as 'self-defense' under the active-ceasefire framework, arguing Iran had fired first. Iran's IRGC confirmed the exchange and said its forces had acted after a US warship entered a restricted zone within the IRGC's formal maritime control zone announced May 4. The strikes marked the first US use of force against targets on Iranian soil since Rubio declared Operation Epic Fury 'effectively over' on May 5 — complicating the diplomatic picture sharply. Tehran's Foreign Ministry called the US strikes a 'clear violation' of the April 8 ceasefire, warning Iran would 'never bow to pressure.' Trump insisted the ceasefire was 'still in effect' and that the strikes were not a resumption of the bombing campaign. CENTCOM framed the action as limited and defensive; Iran called it aggression. The exchange demonstrated the fragility of the nominal ceasefire even as US and Iran were simultaneously negotiating a one-page MOU framework through Pakistan.