US Attacks Iranian Radar Sites After Tehran Launches Drones Towards Hormuz
The U.S. military said it shot down four Iranian drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and then hit some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response, raising the risk of a shaky ceasefire as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure on Iran.
“Attack drones pose an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” US Central Command said on social media.
The military is imposing a blockade of Iranian ports in response to Tehran blocking the corridor vital for global oil and gas shipments; This has caused energy prices to rise and created political problems for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm congressional elections.
US Central Command said it hit radar sites, including an island in the strait, “in order to defend against further attacks.”
It was the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and efforts to reach an agreement to extend it. Earlier this week, Iranian drones heavily damaged the passenger terminal at Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person, injuring dozens and briefly closing the airport.
Despite the attacks raising new concerns that the ceasefire could be broken, Trump told reporters on Friday that “the situation with Iran seems to be going pretty well.”
Speaking at an event with farmers in Wisconsin, Trump said, “We’re going to get out of Iran very quickly, and it’s going to be very strong one way or another, whether it’s a piece of paper or a very difficult path.” “The hardest path may be the easiest path, but we will come out and your fertilizer prices will drop a lot, just like four months ago.”
Trump seems increasingly stuck in a conflict that has settled into a holding pattern. U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement a week ago to extend the ceasefire for 60 days and begin a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program. But Trump called for unspecified changes and Iranian officials have shown no public signs that the deal has been signed.
When asked Friday why it was taking so long, Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it was because “this is a very difficult thing for them,” citing their “great independence” and “they’re strong, they’re proud.”
“There are things they never thought they would do that they will have to do. They have no choice and it takes a while,” he said in the interview.
Trump said the Iranians still have 21 percent to 22 percent of their missiles.
His administration also touted the latest ceasefire agreed to this week by the Lebanese government and Israel following U.S.-brokered talks in Washington. But the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group rejected the deal and new attacks put it even more at risk.
The Israeli military struck many parts of southern Lebanon on Friday and issued an evacuation warning for nine villages, including one hosting thousands of people displaced by the conflict. The attacks killed nine people in six locations in southern Lebanon, the state news agency reported.
The Israeli army said two soldiers were injured, one seriously, in a clash with militants in southern Lebanon on Friday.
The conflict in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized a large area in the south, also threatens efforts to end the Iranian war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz as Iran has demanded a permanent ceasefire extend to Lebanon.
In addition to the drone intervention in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said early Friday that its forces had boarded a sanctioned Iranian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean as the US sought to prevent Iran from profiting from its oil and other goods.
The US has also targeted Iran’s energy sector with new sanctions on a number of people, companies and tankers.
