US and Iran launch fresh strikes as peace efforts falter

The US conducted several strikes against military targets in southern Iran over the weekend, as efforts to move beyond an increasingly fragile truce between Washington and Tehran continued to prove elusive. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also told Iranian media that it had launched fresh attacks early on Monday.

US Central Command, which oversees operations against Iran, said in a statement published late on Sunday that it had struck Iranian “radar and command and control sites for drones” in Goruk and Qeshm Island this weekend. 

It said the strikes were in response to Iranian activities which “included shooting down a US “MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters”. Centcom added that no American personnel were harmed during its operations.

“US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two-one way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” Centcom added.

The strikes, the latest in a series of exchanges of fire between Iran and the US in recent days, came as negotiations between Tehran and Washington to formalise a fragile ceasefire brokered in early April continue without a breakthrough.   

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards told Iranian media that it had targeted a base following a US attack on Sirik, an island in the Gulf. Kuwait, which hosts American forces, said that it was coming under fire from “hostile missile and drone attacks” on Monday morning. 

There have been confused signals about whether Washington and Tehran are close to an agreement that would extend the existing ceasefire by 60 days. 

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was intending to make a “final determination” about a preliminary agreement but a White House meeting concluded without any formal announcement.

Both Iran and the US have been reviewing a deal whereby Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, commit to not building nuclear weapons and begin negotiations over the future of its nuclear programme. The US, in return, would agree to phased sanctions relief and ease its naval blockade on Iran. 

Trump is reported to have returned the proposed deal to Iran with amendments. He is under pressure from within his own Republican Party over concessions to Tehran and also to control rising petrol prices ahead of critical midterm elections in November.

The increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington came as Israel, which struck Iran alongside the US on February 28, pushed forward with an offensive against the Iranian-backed militant organisation Hizbollah in southern Lebanon. 

Iran has repeatedly said that Lebanon should be covered by any ceasefire agreement between itself and Washington.