DUBAI — The United States conducted “self-defense strikes” over the weekend against Iranian radar and drone command-and-control facilities in Goruk and on Qeshm Island, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Sunday. “The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said. “No American service members were harmed,” it added. The CENTCOM stated that it remains committed to protecting US assets and interests throughout the region “in response to unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck a US air base allegedly used to launch an attack on a telecommunications tower on Iran’s Sirik Island, according to a statement carried by several Iranian state-run news outlets. The statement did not say which air base it reportedly struck, but the announcement came after Kuwait reported it repelled drone and missile attacks Iran’s response would be “completely different” if US aggression was “repeated”, IRGC said in remarks reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. Kuwait’s military said early on Monday it was “confronting hostile missile and drone attacks”, with state news agency KUNA reporting air raid sirens sounded across the country. Its foreign ministry later released a statement condemning “in the strongest terms… the heinous and repeated Iranian attacks, which represent a dangerous escalation and a direct assault” on Kuwait. It said such attacks “undermine” efforts to deescalate tensions in the region and said the country reserved the right to “take whatever measures are necessary” to defend itself. Iran and the US have repeatedly exchanged fire since their shaky ceasefire came into effect in early-April, including last week when Kuwait also said it came under fire from Iranian missiles and drones. Those flare-ups have rattled the region, but have so far not led to a collapse of the ceasefire. At the heart of the ongoing talks to end hostilities is a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran that would end hostilities and lay the groundwork for further talks on key outstanding issues. Trump’s latest proposed changes, which he made after meeting with advisers Friday, had already extended the back-and-forth talks into another week. “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA and those that are with us,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after Central Command confirmed the latest strikes. Trump urged his critics to “sit back and relax” in his post early on Monday, saying it would “all work out well in the end”. The exact changes Trump requested weren’t immediately clear, but officials said the president has insisted on tougher language surrounding Iran’s nuclear commitments and its pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. US allies in the Gulf have been briefed on the discussions. One foreign official familiar with the matter told CNN the changes aren’t substantive and mostly center on a US desire for assurances on those issues. Trump has also voiced concern at what financial relief might be provided for Iran as part of the deal, wary of comparisons to the “pallets of cash” that were delivered under the Obama-era nuclear deal he derides as weak. Before the latest strikes in Iran were announced, one US official told CNN more military strikes are unlikely with a deal close, and regional allies do not want combat operations to resume. The latest volley of proposed changes comes a week after Trump declared the deal “largely finalized” and signaled the end of the war was imminent. While Trump claimed in his message that the US would seize and destroy Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Iran has consistently said it is not discussing details of its nuclear program under the current negotiations. Irananian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday that no agreement will be approved with the United States until Tehran’s “rights” are secured, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. “The soldiers of the diplomatic battlefield have no trust in the words and promises of the enemy. What matters to us is tangible achievements that we must obtain, in exchange for which we will fulfil our commitments,” Tasnim cited Ghalibaf as saying. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons on Sunday morning said the terms Trump outlined last week for a deal look acceptable on paper, but expressed skepticism it would be achievable in practice – particularly in regard to the Strait of Hormuz. “While we can use our technological superiority to bomb big factories in Iran, we’re not going to be able to stop them from having the power to use their mines to close the Strait of Hormuz and their drones to attack us and our allies,” Coons, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran and Oman were the only two countries that have a right to “exercise sovereignty” in the Strait of Hormuz. In comments carried by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster, Gharibabadi said Iran has implemented a new process for “controlling traffic and navigation” in the waterway but arrangements are coordinated with Oman. He said Iran has urged Oman to “not give in to” threats from the US after Trump threatened to “blow up” the country if it does not “behave just like everybody else” with respect to the strait.
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