US strikes in Iran after attack on cargo ship; Revolutionary Guards threaten response

The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they unfold.

Mamdani condemns swastika graffiti while ignoring massive outcry over his Israel lobby comments

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemns an incident of swastika graffiti, while ignoring widespread Jewish community fears over his own rhetoric.

Mamdani says a swastika carved into a car in Manhattan “is a despicable act of antisemitism.”

“It is a hateful attack of intimidation on our Jewish neighbors and on the values that make our city what it is,” he says in a statement.

“To every Jewish New Yorker: your city stands with you. We will confront acts of antisemitism wherever they appear with urgency and without exception.”

The statement comes after more than 700 rabbis issued an open letter earlier today saying Mamdani had “put a target on the backs of American Jews” in a speech last week.

In that speech, he likened the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC to “monsters” channeling “millions in dark money” to “preserve their power,” enact genocide and foment societal divisions.

National Jewish groups, the chair of the city’s Jewish caucus and antisemitism task force, and some leftist Jews who are more sympathetic to Mamdani all decried the comments as discriminatory toward Jews.

He doubled down on the statements earlier this week and has not issued further comment since.

Swastika graffiti turns up regularly around New York.

Mamdani also endorsed a Congressional candidate, Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won her primary this week after attending a rally that celebrated the October 2023 Hamas onslaught in Israel the day after it happened and refused to condemn Hamas during her campaign.

Revolutionary Guards say they targeted US sites in Gulf after strikes on Iran

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it attacked US sites in the Gulf region in retaliation to American strikes in Iran, according to state television.

“If the aggression is repeated, our response will be broader than this,” the IRGC says  according to a post by state TV on Telegram.

‘Violence will be met with violence’: Vance tells Iran to ‘pick up the phone’ if there is a disagreement on MOU

US Vice President JD Vance says that “violence will be met with violence” after the US struck Iran in the wake of an attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

“If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,” Vance said on X.

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Hezbollah supporters ride motorcycles through Beirut to protest Israel-Lebanon deal

Hezbollah supporters take to the streets of Beirut in protest of an agreement announced between Israel and Lebanon hours earlier, state media and an AFP correspondent say.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reports that “Hezbollah supporters rode motorbikes through the streets of Beirut” including a central area near the parliament and along a road leading to the airport “in protest at the framework agreement announced between Lebanon and Israel,” adding that they have blocked at least one road with burning tires.

An AFP correspondent reports seeing people on motorcycles riding and chanting slogans along one road as well as Lebanese army temporary checkpoints set up along several streets of the capital.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threaten ‘swift and decisive’ response to US strikes

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says its response to a fresh US attack against Iran will be “swift and decisive,” Iran’s state TV reports.

The IRGC says it repelled an attack by the US against Sirik Island, which is located on the shores of the Strait of Hormuz.

US says it struck Iran targets after attack on cargo ship

US Central Command (CENTCOM) says its forces conducted strikes against Iran earlier this evening in response to an attack on a commercial ship that was transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

“US aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone.”

“The Singapore-flagged cargo ship was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani coast at the time of Iran’s attack.”

“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM says.

“Furthermore, Iran’s dangerous behavior undermined freedom of navigation as commerce increasingly flows through the vital international trade corridor.”