United States Launches New Strikes in Southern Iran, Shooting Down Iranian Drones Near Strait of Hormuz

The United States launched new strikes against Iran on Wednesday, with a U.S. military official telling Newsweek that American troops shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz.

The same U.S. official said an Iranian ground control station was struck in Bandar Abbas as a fifth drone was getting ready to be launched, and Newsweek reported that the U.S. described the actions as “measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire.”

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Le Monde reported that the U.S. carried out new strikes on southern Iran on Thursday, May 27, drawing retaliation from Tehran against a U.S. military base in what it called the most serious clashes since an April ceasefire began.

Le Monde added that the fresh fighting appeared to begin when Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait, and that U.S. forces launched strikes that hit a ground control station in the southern port area of Bandar Abbas.

In parallel, South China Morning Post said the U.S. shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth, while Axios reported the two sides reached an outline agreement to extend their ceasefire pending President Donald Trump’s approval.

CBS News reported that President Trump convened his Cabinet on Wednesday and said Iran was “negotiating on fumes,” before adding, “Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don't.”

CBS News also said the U.S. military conducted what it considers “self-defense” strikes as the two countries had appeared ready to de-escalate, and that Iran later said it targeted a U.S. base with its own strikes early Thursday morning local time.

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Le Monde quoted Trump at the televised White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday saying, “Either that or we'll have to just finish the job.”

Le Monde also reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said the likelihood of “war is low because of the enemy's weakness,” while warning the military was “lying in wait with full magazines” if attacked.

South China Morning Post said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described its targeting of a U.S. airbase as a response to what it described as an early morning U.S. attack near Bandar Abbas airport, as Tasnim news agency reported.

The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remained central as Le Monde reported that the clashes threatened to jettison a fragile diplomatic push to forge a peace agreement and open the Strait of Hormuz.

Le Monde said Tehran has effectively closed the strait, leaving global energy markets grappling with curbed supplies of the huge amounts of oil and gas that normally pass through it, and it noted that oil prices bounced higher on Thursday after reports of the strikes.

CBS News reported that the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Wednesday on Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the new Tehran agency that collects fees for traveling through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

CBS News quoted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the Iranian military’s “latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash,” and it said the statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees.

Newsweek also tied the military actions to the ceasefire, reporting that a U.S. official said the strikes were intended “to maintain the ceasefire,” while Trump told the cabinet that the Strait of Hormuz “will be opened” as part of a broader agreement.