The US says its military has shot down Iranian drones launched near the Strait of Hormuz
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The US military said it shot down four Iranian drones launched near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday and attacked some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response, threatening to end the ceasefire as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Iran.
“Aggressive drones pose a threat to maritime traffic,” the US Central Command said on social media.
The military imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s interference in a key global oil and natural gas export corridor, which has sent energy prices soaring and created political problems for US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of mid-term congressional elections.
US Central Command said it hit radar sites, including an island in the strait, “to protect against further attacks.”
Minutes ago, CENTCOM forces shot down four of Iran’s one-way attack aircraft that were launched near the Strait of Hormuz. Flying drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime transport. US forces then attacked Iran’s coastal radar sites in Goruk and…
— CENTCOM
It was the latest back-and-forth attacks that complicated a ceasefire in the war and efforts to reach an agreement to extend that agreement.
Earlier this week, Iranian drones heavily damaged Kuwait’s main airport, killing one person, injuring dozens and briefly closing the airport.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before two committees in Washington on Tuesday. It is the first time he has been asked on Capitol Hill since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.
Although the attack raised new concerns that it could collapse, Trump told reporters on Friday that “the situation with Iran appears to be going well.”
“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 paper or a very hard way,” Trump said at an event with farmers in Wisconsin.
“The hardest way is maybe the easiest way, but we’re going to get out, and your fertilizer prices are going to drop a lot, like they were four months ago.”
The appearance of the installation in the box
Trump increasingly appears to be facing a controversy that remains a holding pattern. US and Iranian negotiators reached an indefinite deal last week to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and begin a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program. But Trump has called for unspecified changes and Iranian officials have shown no public signs of signing the deal.
Asked Friday why it was taking so long, Trump told NBC Meet the media it was because “it’s a very difficult thing for them,” citing their “great independence” and the fact that they are “strong, proud.”
“There are things they never thought they would do that they have to do. They don’t have a choice, and it takes a while,” he said in an interview.
Trump said the Iranians still have 21 to 22 percent of their missiles.
His administration also echoed the latest ceasefire agreed this week by the Lebanese and Israeli governments after US-led talks in Washington. However, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has reneged on the deal and new attacks have put us at greater risk.
The Israeli army on Friday raided several parts of southern Lebanon and issued evacuation warnings in nine villages, including one that has sheltered thousands of people displaced by the war. The strikes killed nine people in six locations in southern Lebanon, state media reported.
Israel’s military said two soldiers were wounded, one seriously, during an encounter with terrorists in southern Lebanon on Friday.
The war in Lebanon, where Israeli forces hold large swathes of land in the south, also threatens efforts to end the war with Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz because Iran wants any lasting deal to go through Lebanon.
In addition to the interception of a drone in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said on Friday that troops boarded a sanctioned oil tanker connected to Iran in the Indian Ocean as the United States seeks to prevent Iran from profiting from its oil and other supplies.
The US has also targeted Iran’s energy sector with new sanctions on a group of individuals, firms and tankers.
