US Strikes Iran Again: What Do We Know and Is the Ceasefire Over? | US-Israeli war against Iran

The US military launched a series of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz as an Iranian delegation led by senior officials traveled to Qatar to hold negotiations aimed at ending the US-Israeli war against Iran.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed to have carried out “self-defense strikes” to protect American troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. However, he did not provide details about the strikes and their locations. Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, about 70 km from the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.

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The latest attacks come despite a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in effect since April 8 and amid optimism about a deal to end the war that has sparked an energy crisis across the world.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that “a large part” of the issues with the United States had been resolved, but that a deal was “not imminent.”

So here’s what happened and what it means.

What has the United States said about the latest strikes?

“The targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to place mines,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesman, told Al Jazeera in a statement Monday evening.

“US Central Command continues to defend our forces while exercising restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” the statement said, without providing further details.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting India, said the targets included boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites. Washington has accused the Iranian army of having laid mines near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas normally passes.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane in Jaipur, western India, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz, a global energy bottleneck under a de facto Iranian blockade, had to be opened “one way or another.”

Diplomatically, he said negotiating a deal with Iran could “take a few days,” dashing hopes of an imminent end to the conflict.

In a lengthy article published Monday on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said negotiations with Iran were going “well” but warned of further attacks if they failed. It will be “only a good deal for all, or no deal at all,” he wrote.

The escalating tensions come days after Trump said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been “extensively negotiated” with Iran, raising hopes of an imminent deal to end the war that has roiled markets and sent oil prices soaring.

What did Iran say about the attack?

There has been no official reaction from Iran so far.

Iranian news agencies reported Monday that Iran had shot down a “hostile” stealth drone using a new air defense system, without specifying where it came from.

Iranian sources told Al Jazeera that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had targeted a ship at sea before the latest US strikes.

Several IRGC members were killed in the attack, according to the sources.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that Washington and Tehran had made progress in their negotiations, but downplayed the prospect of an imminent breakthrough.

“To say that we have reached a conclusion on a large part of the issues under discussion would be correct. However, to say that this means that an agreement is about to be signed is not a claim that anyone can make,” said ministry spokesperson Baghaei.

Addressing a news conference in Tehran, he also said the two sides were not discussing Iran’s nuclear program “at this stage”, with the focus being on ending the war.

What is happening on the diplomatic front?

The United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on April 8, but a lasting peace has not yet been established, with negotiations and de-escalation efforts still underway.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid a four-day visit to China, during which he and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir held talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

After weeks of pushing China to take a more active role in convincing Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration said before the summit that it did not need help from Beijing.

Earlier on Monday, a high-level Iranian delegation arrived in Qatar’s capital Doha to discuss obstacles to a permanent peace deal.

The visit by the delegation, which reportedly includes Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, came as Trump said peace talks were “going well” while insisting he would accept nothing less than a substantial deal. The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, is also part of the delegation visiting Doha.

“It’ll only be a good deal for all or no deal at all – Back to the battle front and firing, but bigger and stronger than ever – And no one wants that!” Trump wrote at Truth Social.

Trump also sought to link peace negotiations to a commitment by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan to sign the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.

“It is possible that one or two will have a reason not to do it, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing and able to make this deal with Iran far more historic than it would otherwise be,” Trump wrote.

Signed in 2020 during Trump’s first term, the Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Arab countries have said they will establish diplomatic ties with Israel after the achievement of a sovereign Palestinian state under the so-called two-state solution.

What does this mean for the peace talks?

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said from Washington DC that the strikes risk derailing ongoing negotiations to end the war, as Trump is eager to reach a deal.

“There were a number of such skirmishes, particularly right after the ceasefire began. At the time, Trump said he did not consider this a violation of the ceasefire,” Fisher said.

“There is very little information coming from the American side; we don’t know the scale of the operation,” he said. “It is difficult to say whether this skirmish is unusual.”

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