The U.S. military carried out new airstrikes Friday on several empty tankers attempting to break a blockade on Iran, a Fox News reporter said on X, as the United Arab Emirates said its air defenses intercepted Iranian missiles and drones.
The UAE Defense Ministry said two ballistic missiles and three drones launched from Iran were intercepted early Friday. Three people were moderately wounded, the ministry said.
The attacks came despite a ceasefire and hours after exchanges of fire near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Mehr news agency reported an explosion in Sirik, near the strait, but said the cause was not immediately known.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Washington of choosing military escalation over diplomacy.
“Every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure,” Araghchi wrote on X. “Is it a crude pressure tactic? Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire? Whatever the causes, outcome is the same: Iranians never bow to pressure.”
In a statement attributed to Iran and posted with Araghchi’s message, Tehran rejected a CIA assessment reported Thursday by The Washington Post that Iran retains 75% of its missile capabilities.
“Our current stockpile of missiles and launchers is not 75% of what we had on Feb. 28, but 120%,” the statement said. “Our readiness to defend our people stands at 1,000%.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the attacks had been met with “a powerful military response” by Iranian forces and that the attackers had failed to achieve their goals.
Iranian state television also reported Friday that Iran’s navy seized the Barbados-flagged tanker OCEAN KOI in the Gulf of Oman, claiming it had tried to disrupt Iran’s oil exports and national interests. The tanker, which reportedly carried Iranian oil, has been under U.S. sanctions since February and was escorted to Iran’s coast.
According to the UAE, Iran has launched 551 ballistic missiles, 29 cruise missiles and 2,263 drones since the start of the war.