US strikes Iran again after Trump denies deal on Strait of Hormuz

The US military carried out new strikes in Iran on Thursday, targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to US forces and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after President Donald Trump dismissed an Iranian report of a deal to restore traffic through the strategic waterway.

The US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters on Wednesday the military also shot down four Iranian attack drones that posed a threat around the strait. The target was an Iranian ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, the official added.

An Iranian media report said there were three explosions in the area at around 1:30 a.m. local time (2200 GMT Wednesday) on Thursday. A ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect in early April.

"These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire," the official said.

At a cabinet meeting attended by media, Trump dismissed an Iranian state TV report that it had obtained an unofficial draft of an agreement to restore commercial shipping through the strait to prewar levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly managing traffic.

Trump said no single country would have control over the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, a country with which the United States has decades-long military and economic ties.

"Nobody's going to control (the strait)," Trump said. "It's international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that, they'll be fine."

The White House and Oman's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations was not immediately available for comment.

The Iranian TV report of a framework deal said the United States would also have to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and withdraw military forces from Iran's vicinity.

But Trump's comments and reports of new US military action showed that the two countries remain far apart even after suggestions from the White House in recent days that an initial deal to end the war could be imminent.

Iranian media said that air defences were activated for several minutes early on Thursday.

The US military also carried out strikes in southern Iran on Monday against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what was described as defensive action.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said Trump’s “rhetoric” would not force Iran to back away from its demands to enrich uranium, wield authority over the strait and see sanctions against it lifted.

"It is obvious Trump, seeking a way out of this strategic deadlock, alternates between issuing threats and appealing for an agreement," Azizi said in a post on X.