The US says it has carried out “self-defence” strikes on Iran, despite Donald Trump stating that negotiations between the two nations are “proceeding nicely”.
The strikes on Monday were targeting missile launch sites and boats placing mines to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”, said Captain Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for US Central Command.
The US continues to “defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire”, Hawkins added.
Iran’s regime has not officially issued a response to the strikes, with parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf returning to Tehran from Qatar on Monday evening following negotiations over the possible deal with the US.
News website Tabnak, believed to be close to former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, said four dead Guard troops had been killed in American strikes on boats.
Iranian state television separately also reported blasts around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz, home to a military port and a dual-use airport.
US President Trump said over the weekend a US-Iran deal had been “largely negotiated” but warned that relations could go “back to the battlefront” if no agreement were made.
He wrote on Truth Social: “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said following the strikes that a US-Iran deal is still on the table as he met with foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
“We’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio told reporters.
Earlier, Trump said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreements aimed at normalising relations with Israel.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab countries to join in 2020, diplomatically recognising Israel.
Trump stated that “after all the work” done by the US “to try and pull this very complex puzzle together”, it should be mandatory that the countries “simultaneously” sign onto the Abraham Accords.
“If they don’t, they should not be part of this deal in that it shows bad intention,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
Saudi Arabia, in particular, has for decades called on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and allow the formation of a Palestinian nation with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel’s conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza has also alienated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world as well.
Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, also mentioned by Trump, have diplomatic relations with Israel already, but these have been strained since the start of the Gaza war.
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