U.S. Military Conducts Self-Defense Strikes in Southern Iran, Targeting Missile Sites and Mine-Laying Boats

The U.S. military carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, targeting missile launch sites and boats attempting to place mines around the Strait of Hormuz while a ceasefire was ongoing.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the strikes were meant “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” and the BBC reported Iran condemned the action as a “gross violation” of the ceasefire.

Al Jazeera

The BBC said Centcom targeted Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to place mines with what it called “self-defence strikes” in southern Iran on Monday, while NBC News reported the U.S. launched defensive strikes in response to 24 hours of missile, drone and small boat launches by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near the Strait of Hormuz.

Negotiations continued alongside the strikes, with NPR saying Trump told supporters negotiations were “proceeding nicely” and the BBC reporting a deal was still possible but would “take a few days.”

As the U.S. and Iran worked toward a memorandum of understanding, Trump added a demand that any peace deal should require more countries to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.

NPR reported Trump wrote on social media that “[i]t should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” and PBS said the proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favor a harder line on Iran.

Al Jazeera

In response to the strikes and the diplomatic push, NBC News said Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “a clear violation of the ceasefire” and warned that it would “leave no act of aggression unanswered.”

NPR also quoted Dan Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, saying tying Abraham Accords expansion to ending the war with Iran was “needlessly complicated and unrealistic,” even as Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the United States would “give diplomacy every chance to succeed before we explore the alternatives.”

The sources tied the next phase of diplomacy to frozen Iranian funds and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with the Guardian saying negotiators from Tehran began new talks in Qatar as the U.S. struck southern Iran.

“In short: The US military has carried out strikes in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites”

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Guardian reported that the memorandum of understanding being negotiated would reportedly see Washington agree to unfreeze some Iranian assets being held in banks outside Iran, and it said the deal would reportedly restore commercial shipping through the strait of Hormuz but would not include negotiations over any nuclear issues.

NBC News said the framework being discussed could see the end of the war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and it reported that a senior Trump administration official said the two sides would then have 60 days to reach a full peace deal.

Meanwhile, the BBC said Iran’s central bank governor attended talks in Doha focused on frozen assets and discussions centered primarily on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the impact of the strikes on talks “unclear.”