Iran targeted a U.S. airbase in retaliation Thursday after the U.S. shot down four Iranian attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz, and targeted a ground control site in Bandar Abbas that was preparing to launch a fifth.
Iran says the U.S. attacks were a “blatant violation” of both the unstable ceasefire and international law, and targeted the facility from which the U.S. strikes were coming. The U.S., however, has not confirmed whether there was an attack on a military base in the area.
The overnight strikes were the second time in three days that the U.S. has carried out what it says are defensive strikes.
Creating doubt for a peace deal
The new exchange comes as the White House pushes back on Iranian state media reports claiming a draft peace agreement has already been reached, calling those reports a “complete fabrication.”
President Donald Trump says he’s in no rush.
“Their Navy is gone, as I’ve said a thousand times, their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone. Everything’s gone, and they’re negotiating on fumes. But we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don’t. They thought they were going to outwait me, you know, ‘We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms.”
Fight over the Strait continues
One major sticking point in a potential peace deal is the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since late February, significantly impacting global oil prices.
Now, the U.S. has sanctioned Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the body created by Tehran to enforce shipping rules around the Strait of Hormuz.
And Iran declared its support for Oman after Trump warned the country not to attempt to assert control over the Strait.
“Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “They understand that. They’ll be fine.”
Amid the new strikes in Iran, oil prices rose overnight, rising around 2% to $95 a barrel.
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