US military shoots down Iranian drones, carries out fresh strikes near Strait of Hormuz
According to the official, the US military also carried out fresh strikes on an Iranian military site that allegedly posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping operating in the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The US military on Wednesday shot down Iranian attack drones and soon after carried out new defensive strikes targeting a military site in Iran that officials believed posed a threat to US forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official told Reuters on Wednesday.
According to the official, the US military shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz. The US military also carried out fresh strikes on an Iranian military site that allegedly posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping operating in the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz.
According to the US official, forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that three explosions were heard east of Bandar Abbas. The agency added that Iranian air defence systems were activated for several minutes following the blasts.
The US last carried out what it called defensive strikes against Iran on Monday, in what Iran called a violation of the countries’ fragile ceasefire. The U.S. targets included boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites that the U.S. military’s Central Command said posed a threat to U.S. forces.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed a report that Iran and Oman would manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a deal to end the war, in a sign that any agreement remained elusive.
Trump’s comments came after Iranian state TV reported that it had obtained an unofficial draft of an agreement that would restore commercial shipping through the strategic waterway to prewar levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly managing traffic. That framework also would have the United States lift its blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw military forces from Iran’s vicinity.
Donald Trump said no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, a country with which the United States has decades-long military and economic ties.
“Nobody’s going to control (the strait),” Trump said at a cabinet meeting attended by reporters. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that, they’ll be fine.”
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said Trump’s “rhetoric” would not force Iran to back away from its demands to enrich uranium, wield authority over the strait and see sanctions against it lifted.
“It is obvious Trump, seeking a way out of this strategic deadlock, alternates between issuing threats and appealing for an agreement,” Azizi said in a post on X.
The dueling statements showed that the two countries remain far apart even after suggestions from the White House in recent days that an initial deal to end the war could be imminent.
The three-month-old war has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher since it began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. Trump has repeatedly said that a deal is close at hand since a ceasefire took effect in early April.