Tehran: Iran claimed that it has shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone and fired on a fighter jet that entered its airspace, even as the situation escalated in the Middle East on Tuesday.
It reserved the “legitimate and definite” right to retaliate against any ceasefire violations by the United States, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
Reuters has quoted reports in Iranian media that also claimed to have fired at a fighter jet that had entered Iranian airspace. This comes after the US said it conducted fresh “self-defence strikes” on Iran.
On Tuesday, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, also released a statement, saying that regional countries would no longer be shields for US bases, as reported by Hindustan Times.
“What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases,” the Iranian leader, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, said in a message marking the Eid al-Adha holiday.
The United States was losing influence in the region, “moving further and further away from its former status with each passing day”, Khamenei added.
The US said it struck Iranian missile sites and
boats “that were laying mines”. The statement issued by the US Central Command did not give further details.
“US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Tim Hawkins, a US CENTCOM spokesperson, said in a statement.
The fresh strikes took place at a time when top Iranian negotiators are in the Qatari capital of Doha for the latest round of talks to end the months-long conflict, which had prompted Iran to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global energy exports, sending prices soaring and the global economy into a tailspin.
Several loud explosions were heard in the vicinity of Bandar Abbas around midnight, Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB reported. The situation in the southern port city was normal and local authorities were investigating the cause of the blasts, it added.
The US and Iran have been negotiating a deal to extend the ceasefire for about 2 months, with Washington lifting its blockade and Tehran reopening Hormuz. Sticking points remain, with Tehran saying it must be able to manage traffic through the chokepoint, something the US, Arab states and Europe maintain cannot be allowed.
Negotiations will still “take a few days” as both sides discuss language in an initial document, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. President Donald Trump posted that the talks were “proceeding nicely,” while also threatening more attacks if they were unsuccessful.
Tehran’s enriched uranium would preferably be destroyed in Iran, although the material could also be turned over to the US Trump said in another post.