Iran26 May, 20262 min read
Iran’s IRGC Threatens Retaliation After U.S. Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz
IRGC threatened retaliation after U.S. strikes on missile launch sites and boats near Hormuz. US and Iran negotiating a memorandum in Pakistan; no deal appears imminent.
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Strikes, mines, retaliation
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened to retaliate after American military forces attacked sites near the Strait of Hormuz, with U.S. strikes described as “self-defense strikes.” The New York Times reported that Iran deployed mine-laying boats in the Strait of Hormuz and flew attack drones near American ships, threatening actions that drew U.S. strikes early Tuesday, according to two American officials.
The Guardian said Iran’s foreign ministry warned the U.S. had broken the ceasefire agreed in April, and it cited Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps reserving the “legitimate and definite” right to retaliate against any ceasefire violations by the U.S. The Guardian also reported that Iran’s air defence units shot down a US MQ-9 drone and fired at a fighter jet that had entered Iranian airspace, while the New York Times said the U.S. military attacked Iranian boats and launch sites in what it called “self-defense strikes.”
Talks and conflicting signals
As negotiations continued, President Trump and his administration offered conflicting signals about the state of peace talks, with the New York Times saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters a deal could take “a few days.” The New York Times also reported that Trump said there was no hurry to reach an agreement and that the result would be either “great and meaningful” or “no deal at all,” while it said Iran’s lead negotiators returned home on Tuesday from peace talks in Qatar.
The Guardian said Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei wrote on his Telegram channel that Gulf powers will no longer be a shield for US bases and that the US will no longer have a safe haven in the region. CNN reported that the IRGC claimed 25 vessels, including oil tankers, transited Hormuz during the “last day and night,” while warning that “any act of aggression will be met with crushing blows.”
What’s at stake next
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remained central to the negotiations, with the New York Times saying Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and U.S. sanctions on Iran remained largely unresolved issues. CNN said the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints, and it reported that NetBlocks called the internet restoration “the longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history.”
The Guardian said the strikes added to uncertainty about whether a deal will be imminently reached to end the war and open up shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz, while it also reported that Brent crude oil rose 3% on Tuesday after the news of the US strikes on Iran. Al Jazeera described how Iran and the United States continued negotiations through intermediaries amid an exchange of fire, and it said there had been no breakdown of the fragile ceasefire that has been in place since April 8.