Washington:The US military said it had conducted "self-defence" strikes in southern Iran against missile launch sites and boats laying mines near the Strait of Hormuz, as President Donald Trump said negotiations were "proceeding nicely".
The strikes were conducted to defend American forces from threats by Iranian forces, the US Central Command said.
US troops hit by strikesUS Central Command spokesman Timothy Hawkins said when asked about reports of explosions near the strategic waterway: "US forces today conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats trying to deploy mines, he said. Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats trying to lay mines. “US Central Command remains committed to defending our forces but is exercising restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.
Fox News reported that two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels were spotted laying mines in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, and that American forces also responded after a missile site allegedly targeted US warplanes.
The US military destroyed both IRGC boats and also hit a surface-to-air missile (SAM) site in Bandar Abbas, the report said.
The senior U.S. official said the strikes were “defensive” and that the operation took out both the Iranian ships and the missile site.
Fox News quoted two other sources as saying the strikes did not put the continuing ceasefire agreement with Iran in jeopardy, stressing that the military operation was limited in scope.
The developments came as explosions were reported near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, with more blasts heard in the area of Sirik and Jask along the country’s southern coast.
A senior US official later said the strikes were “over for now.”
US must be supplied with enriched uranium: Donald TrumpThis comes hours after the US made progress in the ceasefire negotiations with Trump saying that Iran’s enriched Uranium (Nuclear dust) will be “turned over” to the US to be destroyed or will be destroyed in an acceptable location.
Trump said the decision would be taken “in conjunction and collaboration” with Iran, a sign of Tehran’s easing up as the two countries try to reach a peace agreement.
“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will be either immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Trump said in a post Truth Social.
Trump had said previously that any deal to resolve the Iran war should include a provision for several more nations including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered deals during Trump's first term to normalise relations with Israel.
Trump said Saudi Arabia and Qatar should sign on “immediately,” along with Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. In 2020, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates joined the coalition.
“After all the work that the United States has done to try to pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords,” he wrote.
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