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The United States said Monday it carried out strikes on Iranian radar and drone facilities after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend, marking the latest escalation in the conflict despite ongoing negotiations aimed at preserving a fragile ceasefire.
Iran later claimed it launched retaliatory strikes, while Kuwait reported incoming missile and drone fire intercepted by its air defenses early Monday.
The U.S. military said the strikes targeted sites along Iran’s Gulf coast in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” according to a statement posted by U.S. Central Command on X.
“U.S. 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, adding that American forces would continue protecting U.S. interests during the ongoing ceasefire.
According to CENTCOM, the strikes took place Saturday and Sunday near the Iranian city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island.
The latest exchange showed the instability of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran as diplomats from both countries continue negotiations aimed at ending the war. Officials have offered few details about how close the sides are to an agreement, and repeated military clashes have raised concerns that talks could collapse.
Iran continues to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy markets and contributing to rising fuel prices worldwide. The waterway previously carried roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade.
Kuwaiti officials said air defense systems intercepted incoming projectiles Monday morning. Around the same time, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it had responded to an American attack, though it did not specify the location. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Guard said U.S. forces had struck a telecommunications tower.
Kuwait hosts U.S. Army Central, the Army’s forward headquarters for Middle East operations.
President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social on Monday that Iran wants to make a deal. “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us. But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively ‘chirping,’ at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does!” he wrote.