The US and Iranian militaries exchanged fire for the second time in three days on Wednesday during an attempted passage by US warships through the strait of Hormuz.
Iranian forces targeted three US destroyers with missiles, drones and small boats while they were in transit through Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman, according to US Central Command (Centcom), which oversees the Middle East-based US forces.
The US forces struck back at Iranian missile and drone launch sites, command and control locations and surveillance nodes, Centcom said.
Iran's state news agencies reported explosions near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and other locations along the Iranian coastline hugging the strait of Hormuz. Iran's forces damaged the US warships and forced them to abandon the attempted transit, according to the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"No US assets were struck," Centcom said.
US and Iranian naval forces clashed on 4 May, when two US destroyers passed through Hormuz to help two US-flagged vessels to depart the Mideast Gulf. The US forces that day launched the Project Freedom mission to enable the departure of ships stranded in the Mideast Gulf, but President Donald Trump put the mission on hold on 5 May.
The US and Iran halted hostilities on 7 April. The 4 May clash was not deemed a serious violation of the ceasefire, the Pentagon said.
