WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States and Iran have exchanged fire around the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, marking the third escalation of hostilities last week in the region.
The U.S. Central Command said it conducted 'self-defense strikes on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran, and Qeshm Island' at the weekend.
CENTCOM added that the strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters. 'U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters.'
It warned that U.S. forces will continue to protect U.S. assets and interests in response to unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, said it retaliated to U.S. attacks by targeting an American military base, without specifying the location.
Iranian state-run news outlets quoted IRGC as saying in a statement that the air base was attacked because it was the source of the U.S. strike on a telecommunications tower on Sirri Island, which is situated in Iran's southern waters.
IRGC warned that if the U.S. continues any more attacks, it would be met with a response 'different in scale and nature,' and that the United States will be responsible for any escalation in the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East.
No American troops were harmed in the Iranian attack, according to a CENTCOM press release.
As the latest escalation re-ignited supply fears and uncertainty continued to cloud prospects for a US-Iran peace deal, crude oil prices increased by 3 percent on Monday.
Brent crude oil rose to $94 per barrel, while the US-traded WTI climbed above $90 per barrel.
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