US military strikes Iranian missile launch sites, boats in 'self-defense' action in southern Iran

Amid ongoing negotiations for a permanent ceasefire, U.S. forces launched “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran on Monday evening, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. 

“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Tim Hawkins said in a statement.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” he continued.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the incident began when the U.S. sank two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ships attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz, to which Iranian forces responded by launching surface-to-air missiles at U.S. planes, which triggered the strikes on missile launch sites near Bandar Abbas.

“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Col. Hawkins stressed.

Following the strikes, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that negotiations with Iran could “take a few days”. 

There is “a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait [and] enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter,” he said, “and hopefully we can pull it off.”

“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so 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,” Secretary Rubio told reporters in Jaipur during a state visit to India. 

“The president's expressed his desire to make it. He's either going to make a good deal or no deal,” Rubio said. 

He also reiterated that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would have to end. “The straits have to be open; they're going to be open one way or the other, so they need to be open,” he said. 

The strikes came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Iran must either hand over the stockpile of highly enriched uranium or destroy it under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. 

On Tuesday, a statement released in the name of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared that Gulf countries would no longer be a shield for U.S. bases and the U.S. would not have a safe haven in the region any longer.

Earlier on Monday, Trump made a lengthy post to his social media account, urging the leaders of several Muslim and Arab states to join the Abraham Accords, which his administration oversaw in his previous term. 

After having conducted a phone call with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey, Trump said he urged them to join the Abraham Accords as part of the signing of an Iran peace deal. 

“After all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords,” he wrote. 

The strikes also came just two days after President Trump posted to social media claiming a deal with Iran to end the war “has been largely negotiated” and that final details “will be announced shortly.”