US Shoots Down Two Iranian Drones Near Hormuz, As Trump Hails Impending Peace Deal

01:32 12.6.2026

The US military shot down two Iranian attack drones after Tehran’s forces attempted to strike commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a senior US defense official told RFE/RL.

“It appears Iran has attempted to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz tonight. US forces shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones. Traffic flow through the strait continues,” the defense official said.

Iranian state media reported early on June 12 that the country’s forces had fired toward a tanker attempting to traverse the waterway without permission from Iranian authorities.

Iranian media said ⁠blasts were heard near the coast of Sirik, igniting some fears of renewed air strikes amid reported momentum of a peace agreement.

State news agency IRNA later said any sounds could have been ⁠related to military activity in maritime regions, including off the coast of Sirik, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz.

State media quoted a military source as saying the sounds heard near Sirik were linked to Iranian forces confronting an oil tanker attempting to pass through the strategic waterway, through which some 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supplies flowed prewar.

The tanker later complied with the ban on transit after receiving warnings from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) navy, the source told state media.

Iran’s top military command on June 11 announced the closure of the strait, including the transit of oil tankers and commercial ships, saying any vessel that attempts passage would be fired upon.

It came as US President Donald Trump on June 11 hailed what he called a “great settlement” with Iran to end the war and said a peace deal could be signed as soon as this weekend that would reopen the strait to shipping.

Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed after the war began on February 28, will also be opened “as soon as we have it signed.”

But an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman responded that a final decision on a deal had not yet been reached by the Tehran government.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Washington correspondent Alex Raufoglu and Reuters

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