US says it struck Iranian military sites, Tehran responds with air base attack
By Yomna Ehab
DUBAI, June 1 (Reuters) – The United States said it struck Iran’s military facilities over the weekend, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Monday it targeted a U.S. base in response; This was the last in a series of talks during negotiations to end the three-month war.
U.S. Central Command said in a post on channel X that the attacks on Iran’s Gulf coast were in response to “aggressive actions by Iran, including the downing of a U.S. MQ-1 unmanned aerial vehicle operating in international waters.”
“U.S. warplanes responded quickly by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two unidirectional attack aircraft that posed a clear threat to ships transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said, adding that it would continue to protect U.S. assets and interests during the ongoing ceasefire.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it targeted an air base used by the United States for attacks on southern Iran, but without specifying which base.
Air defense systems in Kuwait, where a major US base is located, thwarted missile and drone attacks as sirens blared across the country on Monday, state news agency KUNA reported without giving further details.
The United States and Iran have traded sporadic attacks since the ceasefire took effect in early April as talks aimed at reaching a more permanent deal have dragged on. A similar exchange occurred last Thursday, with both sides describing it in similar terms.
The war launched by the USA and Israel on February 28 led to the deaths of thousands of people, especially in Iran and Lebanon, and caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices as Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
US President Donald Trump said that his main goal in the war was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons with highly enriched uranium. Tehran has consistently denied that it plans to do this.
As voter frustration with rising prices grows, Trump is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and lower US gasoline prices ahead of congressional elections in November. He also faces potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party over concessions to Tehran.
The two sides are also at odds on other issues, such as Tehran’s demands to lift sanctions and release tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenue frozen in foreign banks.
Israel’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon is another major obstacle.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he had ordered troops to advance towards Lebanon in the war against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
A US official said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu about diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and proposed a plan that would allow for a “gradual de-escalation of tensions”.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
