Reuters
The United States said it struck Iranian military sites over the weekend, while Tehran said it responded by targeting a US base, marking the third known escalation in a week around the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said it launched “self-defense strikes” in response to “Iran’s aggressive actions”, including the downing of a US drone over international waters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted an air base used by US forces for an attack in southern Iran, without specifying the location.
Separately, Kuwait, which hosts a US base, said its air defense system was “facing hostile missile and drone attacks,” without providing further details.
Trump urged his critics to “sit back and relax” in a post on Truth Social Monday morning, saying “everything will work out in the end.” He said Iran “really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good deal for the United States.”
The strikes mark the latest exchange between the two sides after negotiations on a deal to end their months-long war collapsed over the weekend, with US media reporting that President Trump had requested changes to its terms.
The changes are linked to the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel and the elimination of highly enriched uranium, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reported. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s chief negotiator said on Sunday that Tehran would not accept any deal unless Iranian rights were fully guaranteed.
The US military said it carried out “self-defense strikes against Iranian radar and drone command and control sites” on Saturday and Sunday in the town of Goruk, near Iran’s southern coast, and on Qeshm, an island in the Strait of Hormuz.
In an article on No U.S. personnel were injured in the attacks, the military said.
The IRGC said it targeted the airbase that the United States used to carry out the strikes on its communications tower on the Gulf island of Sirri, about 40 miles (65 km) from Iran’s southern coast.
The Iranian military added that its response would be “completely different” if US aggression was “repeated”, according to IRGC comments reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
The Kuwaiti military said on Monday it was “facing hostile missile and drone attacks,” but did not specify where the interceptions were occurring. The official KUNA news agency reported that air raid sirens sounded across the country.
Tehran targeted an air base in Kuwait last week in response to previous US airstrikes, which it said were carried out to prevent Iranian boats and missile strikes from laying mines around the shipping channel.
As a ceasefire took effect on April 8, Trump has repeatedly suggested that the United States and Iran are close to a permanent agreement and that negotiations are progressing, but so far no formal agreement has been reached.
Trump and his top aides met Friday to make a “final decision” on a framework for extending the ceasefire, but the meeting ended without clarity on next steps before reports later emerged that the president had requested changes to the text.
The latest conditions include a 60-day cessation of violence, a call to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and a framework to reopen negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, CBS News reported.
About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments typically pass through the Gulf shipping canal, with the de facto trade embargo putting upward pressure on fuel prices around the world.
