Trump talks peace, US secretly strikes Iran: ‘Finger on the trigger, deal still far off’

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran wanted to end the war and that an agreement "could materialize." But overnight, American forces carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, and on Tuesday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the two countries remained far from reaching an agreement. "Iran and the United States are still far from reaching a deal to end the war. The excessive American demands are unacceptable," the official said.

"Our conditions must be met if the United States wants the Strait of Hormuz to reopen. Nuclear talks can begin afterward," the official added. Amid Qatar-mediated efforts to end the war, the official also warned that "Iran is prepared to respond forcefully to American strikes, in the region or beyond," without specifying whether the warning referred to attacks that had already taken place. The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that U.S. forces had struck Iran's Qeshm Island, near the Strait of Hormuz.

Fox News reported that the attack came in response to an attempt to fire on an American aircraft. "The strike was defensive, in response to Iran firing first. This does not represent a return to strikes on Iran or the beginning of an escalation," a senior U.S. official said. Before the explosions reported near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that its air defense systems had shot down and seized two drones it identified as MQM-170 models south of Qeshm Island.

The Iranian statement also claimed that an MQ-9 drone had been destroyed east of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Journal, the United States has been carrying out strikes inside Iran for several weeks, although on a limited scale and in what American officials describe as a "defensive" manner, primarily aimed at preventing Tehran from attacking commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. One official said Washington had deliberately maintained ambiguity around the operations to avoid signaling to Tehran that it intended to resume large-scale military action.

The latest military developments, including the first publicly reported strikes inside Iranian territory since September, came at a time when Iran and the United States appeared to be moving toward a possible agreement to end the war. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tuesday that "while Iran is prepared for battle, with its finger on the trigger, it has already delivered a decisive and measured response to the American side.

The ball is now in the United States' court. It is up to Washington to prevent war. "We will not surrender to the enemy's threats or military actions. Our response to any miscalculation by the enemy will be unpredictable. We are at the highest levels of defensive readiness. If Washington makes another strategic mistake, it will find itself in an even more helpless position than it is in today." Iranian military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia also issued a warning.

"Any further American aggression will be met with an immediate and crushing response, on a broader scale than before. If a new war breaks out, the theater of confrontation will not be limited to West Asia," he said. "Our forces are updating their list of targets, which includes various assets belonging to the United States and Israel. If the enemy launches another military adventure, American facilities, equipment, personnel and interests, wherever they are located, will become targets for Iranian retaliation."