By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER
The US military carried out new strikes overnight in Iran targeting a military site near the Strait of Hormuz that officials believed posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping.
An official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the US military has also intercepted and shot down multiple Iranian drones that posed a similar threat.
‘Today, US Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz,’ the official said.
‘US forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone. These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire.’
The strikes came during negotiations to end a three-month-old war that has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher since it began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks.
Trump said Wednesday he was not yet satisfied with Iran’s offers to make a deal, after Iranian state television reported details of what it claimed was a draft agreement.
Iranian state TV said earlier Wednesday that a draft outline of a memorandum of understanding with Washington included a commitment to lift the naval blockade on Iran, restore traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and withdraw US forces from the Gulf.
The White House called the report a ‘complete fabrication.’
The US military carried out new strikes overnight in Iran targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to American forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz
An official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the US military has also intercepted and shot down multiple Iranian drones that posed a similar threat
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump added that he was in no rush to reach an accord to end the Middle East war, despite saying at the weekend that one was close.
‘Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be,’ Trump said.
‘Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,’ he said, referring to threats to resume the military operations that the United States and Israel launched on February 28 and paused in April.
Trump added that the Iranians were ‘negotiating on fumes.’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, sitting next to Trump, said there had been ‘some progress and some interest’ in the talks with Iran.
‘We’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress can be made,’ said Rubio.
Trump did not respond directly to the Iranian state TV report of a draft agreement, and gave sometimes contradictory accounts about how the negotiations were going.
He said that ‘nobody’ including Iran would control the Strait of Hormuz and rejected reports that Iran and the Gulf state of Oman could control a toll system for the waterway.