Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has claimed that the Islamic Republic will soon be marking a "great victory" in its ongoing confrontation with the United States and Israel, as reported by the state-run Press TV. Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref voiced defiant optimism on Thursday regarding the international constraints currently facing the country. He signalled that the period of economic and diplomatic isolation was nearing its end, suggesting an imminent shift in the nation's fortunes.

"We will soon hold our victory celebration, and the sanctions and pressures that have been imposed on the Iranian nation over recent years will be lifted with the great victory of the Iranian nation," Aref was quoted as saying. His remarks underscored a conviction that Tehran is on the verge of overcoming the systematic external pressures applied against it in recent years.

These pronouncements were made against a backdrop of renewed hostilities, as both nations engaged in an exchange of fire within the strategic Strait of Hormuz on the same day. Tehran has levelled accusations against Washington for allegedly violating the standing ceasefire, while American officials have maintained that they do not intend to escalate the situation and that the truce remains operational.

US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz that fanned fears Friday that the truce was faltering. The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire.

The latest violence threatens to unravel a fragile truce in effect since April 8 that brought an end to weeks of US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic, which has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East and by blocking the strait, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.

The United Arab Emirates said Friday that its air defences were "engaging missile and drone attacks originating from Iran".

Asked in Washington Thursday if the Iran ceasefire was still on, Trump said: "Yeah, it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle."

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that Iranian forces launched "multiple missiles, drones and small boats" at the three US warships, but none were hit, and that it "eliminated inbound threats and targeted Iranian military facilities responsible."

"CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces," it said.

The United States on Thursday urged Iran to free jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who is believed to have had two heart attacks in recent weeks.

"We'll knock them out a lot harder, and a lot more violently, in the future, if they don't get their Deal signed, FAST!", US President Donald Trump said as the US military carried out strikes on Iranian military targets Thursday.

Oil rose and US stock futures slipped in early trade on Friday, after the United States and Iran exchanged fire and put a month-long Middle East ceasefire in doubt. US crude futures, which are lower for the week, jumped more than 2 per cent from Thursday's close to $96.8 a barrel.

S&P 500 futures slipped about 0.2 per cent and Nikkei futures pointed to a slightly lower open for Japanese shares, which soared to record highs on Thursday. Iran's top joint military command said the US targeted an Iranian oil tanker and another ship entering the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military said it acted in self-defence after Iran attacked Navy destroyers that were passing through the strait. It said Iran did not hit any US assets in the attack and U.S. President Donald Trump told ABC News that the ceasefire with Iran remained in place.

The US military said it intercepted Iranian attacks Thursday on three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz and “targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for attacking US forces," highlighting the fragility of the month-old ceasefire between the two countries. US Central Command said in a social media post that US forces intercepted “unprovoked Iranian attacks” and responded with self-defence strikes.

The US military said no ships were hit. It said it doesn’t seek escalation but “remains positioned and ready to protect American forces". Meanwhile, Iranian state media said the country’s armed forces exchanged fire with “the enemy” on Qeshm Island in the strait. It is the largest Iranian island in the Persian Gulf, home to about 150,000 people. It also houses a water desalination plant.

Iranian state media also reported loud noises and defensive fire in western Tehran. In southern Iran, explosions were heard near Bandar Abbas, semiofficial Iranian news agencies Fars and Tasnim said. The reports did not identify the source of the blasts.

US President Donald Trump dismissed Iran's attacks on three American warships Thursday as "a trifle," saying he considered the ceasefire still active.

Asked during a visit to see renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool if the Iran ceasefire was still on despite the attacks, Trump said: "Yeah it is. They trifled with us today. We blew them away. They trifled. I call that a trifle."

China’s foreign minister on Wednesday called for a comprehensive ceasefire in the Iran war, the latest spark of optimism that the two-month war could end soon. Wang Yi, speaking after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said China was “deeply distressed” by the conflict. Araghchi was visiting Beijing for the first time since the war with the US and Israel started February 28.

China’s close economic and political ties to Tehran give it a unique position of influence. The Trump administration is pressing China to use that relationship to urge the Islamic Republic to open the Strait of Hormuz.

News that Iranian officials were travelling to China ahead of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping lifted market sentiment.

Iran accused the United States of violating a ceasefire by targeting two ships at the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, the country's top joint military command said early on Friday.

The US targeted "an Iranian oil tanker travelling from Iran's coastal waters near Jask toward the Strait of Hormuz, as well as another vessel entering the Strait of Hormuz near the Emirati port of Fujairah", a spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement carried by state media.

"At the same time, with the cooperation of some regional countries, they carried out air attacks on civilian areas along the coasts of Bandar Khamir, Sirik, and Qeshm Island."

The skirmishes raised concerns over the viability of a shaky ceasefire that had largely held for the previous month. But Donald Trump insisted it remained intact despite new violations, which he described as a "love tap".