JD Vance Defends US Strikes on Iran After Cargo Ship Attack

JD Vance defends US strikes on Iran after cargo ship attack, says 'violence will be met with violence' (AP image)

US Vice President JD Vance has defended American strikes on Iranian military targets, warning that "violence will be met with violence" after Washington launched retaliatory attacks in response to an Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz. "Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence," Vance wrote on social media, accusing Tehran of violating the ceasefire. His remarks came shortly after the US military confirmed it had struck multiple Iranian missile and drone facilities near the Strait of Hormuz.

US says Iran violated ceasefire

US President Donald Trump accused Iran of breaching the ceasefire agreement and called the drone attack a "foolish violation." "You'll find out," Trump had told reporters earlier when asked whether the United States would retaliate. "I don't like the fact that they took a shot yesterday, actually four of them," Trump said shortly before the strikes were carried out.

Iran says response was justified

Senior Iranian security official Ebrahim Azizi rejected accusations that Tehran had broken the ceasefire. "This is not a violation of the ceasefire; it is ceasefire management," Azizi said, adding that Iran was not seeking to escalate the conflict. The latest military exchange comes amid disagreements over the implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that ended recent hostilities between the US and Iran and reopened the Strait of Hormuz.