US launches fresh strikes on Iran as talks to end war proceed

US forces have conducted strikes on Monday in southern Iran against targets, including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what it described as defensive actions.

The strikes came as Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier that the US would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in "another way".

There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait (of Hormuz), get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Monday, US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going "nicely", but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It "will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all," he wrote.

Hours later, US Central Command said in a statement it had carried out fresh strikes designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces."

"US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesperson.

Iran also said it had downed a "hostile" stealth drone using a new air defence system, Iranian news agencies reported on Monday, without saying where it had come from.

In another indication of the region's tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would intensify strikes against  Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel's military said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure soon after in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and other areas.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, but Israel has continued airstrikes it says are acts of self-defence against Hezbollah, which was not party to the truce.

The official briefed on the Iranians' Doha visit told Reuters the discussions focused on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while Iran's central bank governor attended to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that nuclear issues would only be negotiated after the framework accord was agreed.

Trump has said his key aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran has consistently denied it has plans to do that.