The US military said it carried out “self-defense” strikes against Iran after shooting down ballistic missiles and drones allegedly launched at ships and Gulf countries.
US Central Command (Centcom) said the strikes targeted Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and were carried out “in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East”.
Iran said it had launched missiles and drones at US bases and helicopters in a “regional country” in retaliation. Centcom said Iran also fired two missiles toward Kuwait and three toward Bahrain, all of which either broke apart before reaching their targets or were intercepted.
The latest exchange comes as ceasefire negotiations remain stalled, after weekend talks aimed at ending the months-long conflict failed to make progress.
Centcom said the strike on Qeshm Island hit an Iranian military ground control station. It added that US forces also shot down three attack drones launched by Iran toward “civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters”.
The IRGC warned that “disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the aggressive US military”.
Centcom said Iran had also launched “several” ballistic missiles toward countries in the region. “Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart enroute, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by US and Bahrain air defense forces.”
Iran has repeatedly targeted Bahrain and Kuwait, both of which host US military bases.
Earlier, Centcom said US forces had struck and disabled an empty oil tanker sailing toward Iran as part of Washington’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which began on April 13.
A US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie after its crew “ignored repeated warnings”, Centcom said.
The command also released footage that it said showed the tanker being hit on Tuesday.
The escalation follows comments by US President Donald Trump, who told critics this week to “sit back and relax”, saying Iran “really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA”.
US media previously reported that Trump had asked for changes to the terms of a possible peace deal after meeting senior aides to discuss extending a ceasefire framework.
According to CBS News, the requested changes related to the Strait of Hormuz, the removal of highly enriched uranium from Iran, and a framework for reopening negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme.
On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied that such issues were under discussion, accusing Washington of “constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands”.
In a separate statement, Centcom said US forces “enforced blockade measures against Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie as it transited international waters toward Kharg Island”.
It said the ship’s crew failed “to comply with directions from US forces multiple times over a 24-hour period”.
Since the blockade came into effect, six commercial vessels have been disabled and another 122 have been redirected, according to Centcom.
The latest confrontation came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared before Congress for the first time since the war began.
Rubio told lawmakers that US negotiators had not offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the strait.
“Right now, everything that’s been discussed with them is that … any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear programme,” he said.
