Getty ImagesThe US has said it struck Iranian military sites over the weekend while Tehran said it responded by targeting a US base, marking the third known escalations in a week around the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command (Centcom) said it launched “self-defence strikes” in response to “aggressive Iranian actions”, which it said included a US drone being shot down over international waters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) meanwhile said it had targeted an air base used by US forces for an attack on southern Iran, but did not say where.
It is the latest exchange between the two sides after negotiations on a deal to end their months-long war failed to advance over the weekend, with US media reporting President Trump had requested changes to its terms.
Iran’s chief negotiator said on Sunday that Tehran would not agree to any deal unless Iranian rights were fully secured.
The US military said it had on Saturday and Sunday conducted “self-defense strikes on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran and Qeshm Island”.
In a post on X, Centcom said US fighters struck the Iranian military’s air defences, a ground control station and two drones that it said “posed a clear threat to ships transiting through regional waters”. No American personnel were injured in the attacks, the military said.
The IRGC said it targeted the airbase which the US had used to carry out the strikes on its communications tower on Sirri Island in the Gulf, around 40 miles (65km) from Iran’s southern coastline.
Iran’s military added that its response would be “completely different” if US aggression was “repeated”, according to IRGC remarks reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
Kuwait’s military said on Monday it was “confronting hostile missile and drone attacks” using its air-defence systems, but did not specify where the interceptions were occurring.
Tehran targeted an air base in Kuwait last week in response to earlier US air strikes, which it said were conducted to prevent Iranian boats and missile strikes from laying mines around the shipping channel.
While a ceasefire came into effect on 8 April, Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that the US and Iran are close to a permanent deal and that negotiations are progressing, but so far no formal agreement has been reached.
Trump and senior aides met on Friday to make a “final determination” about a framework for extending the ceasefire, but the meeting concluded without clarity on the next steps before reports later emerged that the president had requested changes to the text.
The latest terms includes a 60-day cessation of violence, a call to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and a framework to reopen negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, CBS News reported.
Approximately one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments usually pass through the Gulf shipping channel, with the de facto trade embargo placing upward pressure on fuel prices around the world.
