Day 120 of the WarSaturday, June 27, 2026
Day 120 — CENTCOM Strikes Iranian Military Sites After the M/T Kiku Drone Attack; Tehran Condemns While the IRGC Claims It Repelled a U.S. Assault on Sirik; Khamenei's Office Makes Hormuz a Permanent Weapon as the Assembly of Experts Backs Mojtaba's Red Lines; IRGC Ambushed at Baneh; Protesters Mock Mojtaba at the World Cup
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Southern IranStrait of HormuzBaneh
CENTCOM Strikes Back — U.S. Hits Iran After the M/T Kiku Drone Attack
Iran- CENTCOM says U.S. forces carried out airstrikes in Iran on military infrastructure — surveillance, communications and drone facilities — in response to a drone attack on the commercial tanker M/T Kiku near the Strait of Hormuz.source
- Iran International reports CENTCOM targeted Islamic Republic missile and drone depots and coastal radar sites in southern Iran, releasing video of the strike on one of its targets — the response to Thursday's IRGC drone attack on the ship.source
Two Realities — Tehran Condemns the Strikes, IRGC Claims It Repelled Them
- Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the U.S. strikes on 'several points along Iran's southern coasts' in a statement issued Saturday, June 27, hours after CENTCOM announced the operation.source
- The IRGC pushes a rival account, claiming its naval and air forces repelled a U.S. attack on Sirik Island in defense of Iran's territorial sovereignty and that American forces were forced to retreat — a narrative aimed squarely at a domestic audience.source
Inside Iran — IRGC Ambushed at Baneh, Protesters Mock Mojtaba at the World Cup
Iran- IRGC soldiers were reportedly ambushed by Kurdish militias at a checkpoint in Baneh, Iran, and took heavy casualties — a sign the regime's grip in the Kurdish west is contested even as it wages a naval war in the south.source
- During the 2026 FIFA World Cup Iran-Egypt match at Seattle's Lumen Field, Reuters published a photo of a banner mocking Mojtaba Khamenei, protesters using the world stage to jeer the Supreme Leader named in the succession.source
Hormuz as a Weapon — Khamenei's Office Makes the Strait a Permanent Lever
Gulf & Naval- An editorial in 'Voice of Iran,' the Supreme Leader's office publication, declares the Strait of Hormuz a permanent part of Iranian deterrence, with Khamenei's office saying global energy security is now inseparable from Iran's national security.source
- Sixty-two of 86 members of Iran's Assembly of Experts sign a letter demanding negotiators respect Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's red lines and calling any deviation a religious violation, insisting nuclear rights are non-negotiable and the Strait stays leverage.source