Iran's foreign ministry on May 26 accused the United States of violating a fragile ceasefire during the past 48 hours in the southern coastal province of Hormozgan, without specifying the incident.
"The U.S. terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire ... has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region," the ministry said in a statement.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on May 26 that regional countries would no longer be shields for U.S. bases, after U.S. forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines.
“What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases,” said Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, in a message marking the Eid al-Adha holiday.
He said the United States “in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day.”
His remarks came as the U.S. Central Command said forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines, despite the ceasefire.
“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesman, said in a statement.
It gave no details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”
Despite the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on May 26 that a deal remained within reach but struck a firm note on the Hormuz strait.
“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio told reporters during a visit to India, without commenting about the impact of the strikes.
Iran has not officially confirmed the U.S. attack, but state media reported blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas without specifying their source.
On May 26, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards said that they had downed a U.S. drone and shot at other aircraft entering the country’s airspace.
U.S. military aircraft “entered Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf region, and air defence units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps... identified and shot down an MQ-9 drone,” the Guard said in a statement on their Sepah News website.
The Guard forces “also fired upon an RQ-4 drone and an intruding F-35 fighter jet,” the statement said, without specifying when the incidents took place.
The strikes came as top Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha for the latest round of talks to end the months-long conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said Tehran and Washington reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not yet imminent.
