Washington: US forces struck missile sites and Iranian vessels in southern Iran on Monday, with the military describing the operation as a self-defence action amid renewed tension in the Strait of Hormuz, agencies reported.
CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement to Fox News, “US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” adding, “US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”
Targets Hit
A senior US official said two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps boats were detected laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the response. The official said American forces also struck a surface-to-air missile site in Bandar Abbas after it reportedly targeted US warplanes, and that both the boats and the missile site were destroyed in what were described as “defensive strikes.”
The blasts were reported across several locations near the Strait, with Iranian media citing explosions in Bandar Abbas and additional sounds of explosions near Sirik and Jask along the southern coast. The senior US official later said the strikes were “over for now,” while two additional sources told Fox News that the operation did not amount to the end of the ceasefire with Iran.
Uranium Demand
The military action came alongside a fresh demand from President Trump over Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which remains the central obstacle to any durable agreement. In a post on Truth Social, Trump called the material “nuclear dust” and laid out two options for its disposal.
“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location,” he wrote.
Trump also renewed his demand for an expanded Abraham Accords framework that could one day include Tehran as part of a broader regional peace structure, an ambitious prospect that remains distant amid the current state of US-Iran relations.
