US carries out fresh strikes at Iran military site near Hormuz, intercepts drones; Iran retaliates
According to the official, who spoke anonymously, the operation was intended to address security concerns in the strategically vital region.
PTC News Desk: The United States has launched new military strikes inside Iran, targeting a military facility near the Strait of Hormuz that Washington believed threatened American troops and commercial shipping, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a US official.
According to the official, who spoke anonymously, the operation was intended to address security concerns in the strategically vital region. US forces also reportedly intercepted and destroyed several Iranian drones that were seen as a threat to American personnel and vessels operating near the waterway.
The official told Reuters that the strike targeted an Iranian ground-control centre in Bandar Abbas, which was allegedly preparing to launch a fifth drone. The reported attack came after explosions were heard near the Iranian port city early Thursday. Iranian media reported at least three blasts east of Bandar Abbas around 1:30 a.m. local time, followed by the activation of air defence systems for several minutes.
The strikes, previously unreported, took place amid ongoing negotiations aimed at ending a three-month conflict that has killed thousands and driven up global energy prices since erupting on February 28 after US and Israeli attacks.
The latest escalation follows US military strikes earlier this week in southern Iran. At the time, US Central Command described the operations as “self-defence strikes” targeting missile launch sites and Iranian vessels allegedly attempting to place naval mines near the key maritime route.
Iran later accused Washington of breaching a nearly seven-week-old ceasefire through repeated military activity near the Strait of Hormuz.
The fragile ceasefire now appears increasingly unstable after Iran warned of retaliation over the recent US strikes, which Washington again defended as acts of self-defence.
Meanwhile, talks between Washington and Tehran have yet to result in a formal agreement, with both sides continuing to send mixed signals over a possible de-escalation deal. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday also dismissed a report by Iranian state media claiming that Iran and Oman would jointly oversee shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz under a proposed peace arrangement. Trump insisted that the crucial waterway would remain open.