U.S. forces conducted “self defense” strikes in southern Iran early Tuesday, with U.S. Central Command saying the military action was to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said 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,” Hawkins added.
The action comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday stateside that the talks with Iran were “proceeding nicely.” However, he warned that “it will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” threatening to take things “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in India, said that the Strait of Hormuz has to be open, “one way or the other,” referring to U.S. action against Iran, Reuters reported. He added that the deal with Iran could take a few days. Fox News, citing senior U.S. officials on Monday said that the Iran deal was “95% there.”
This is not the first instance of military action since a ceasefire was reached between Washington and Tehran on April 8. Later that month, U.S. marines seized the Touska, an Iranian cargo ship, and in May, both sides traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with each side claiming the other initiated the attack.
In a separate Truth Social post, the U.S. President said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium will be “immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed,” destroyed in Iran or “at another acceptable location.”
Trump also urged Arab nations to sign the Abraham Accords, which would normalize their relations with Israel. However, Pakistan roundly rejected the proposal, with a source telling Reuters that the two issues were “not interlinked and cannot be made so.”
Oil prices were mixed Tuesday morning, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures down about 5% at $91.87 per barrel, but international benchmark Brent was up 2.14% at $98.2.
Chen Lanhee, partner at advisory firm Brunswick, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that a majority of the American public wants the war to be over.
“It doesn’t matter what Iran does or doesn’t have, it doesn’t matter what the contours of the deal are. They just want the war over to bring petrol or gas prices down,” Chen said.
By CNBC