A US official told NBC that Iran fired drones at commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz every night since Sunday, despite the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the US that day. The IRGC launched the drones, the official said, and the US military intercepted them before they could threaten ships and American personnel.
A US official told NBC that Iran has launched drones at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz every night since Sunday, June 14 — the same day the US and Iran signed a digital memorandum of understanding. The official said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fires the drones, and US forces intercept them before they threaten commercial shipping or American military personnel in the area. The report confirms a persistent pattern of nightly maritime friction that The Zioneer has tracked since Wednesday morning.
This development builds on a series of SAME-THREAD reports published by The Zioneer on Wednesday, June 17, at 06:15 and 06:17 Jerusalem — all reporting the same basic timeframe (drone launches since Sunday). The initial reports, cited to an Israeli diplomatic source speaking to i24NEWS (06:15) and a source familiar with the details (06:17), described multiple drone launches since the MOU signing, all intercepted. A third bulletin at 07:17 Jerusalem, citing OSINTdefender, added that the US military targeted and struck Iranian ground control stations. The current report, from a named US official speaking to a major network, represents a higher level of corroboration — shifting the picture from single-source channel claims to an attributed government account, and specifying that the launches have been nightly, not sporadic.
Background reporting from The Zioneer since June 5 places this maritime friction in a broader context. Earlier bulletins described IRGC warning shots at US warships in the Gulf of Oman (June 5) and the Strait of Hormuz (June 13), and ongoing exchanges including cruise missile launches (June 11) and drone interceptions (June 12). A CENTCOM statement from Saturday, June 13, reported Iranian explosive-laden drones targeting commercial shipping, all intercepted. The ‘green’ policy reference in some earlier reports was the Home Front Command’s civil-defense status — not a health measure — and is unrelated to this maritime incident.
It remains unclear whether the nightly pattern continues beyond the reporting period, and whether the IRGC has coordinated these launches with the political leadership in Tehran, or whether the US has communicated directly with Iran about the launches since the MOU was signed.
5 developments
- ConfirmedCENTCOM intercepts Iranian suicide drones targeting commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz
- DevelopingUS shot down two Iranian drones after attempted strike on ships in Hormuz, Fox News reports
- DevelopingUS CENTCOM Downs Two Iranian Drones in Strait of Hormuz
- StrongIran continues cruise missile launches toward US warships in Strait of Hormuz
Source and signal
- Internal intake