US-Iran: Will We Face Armageddon 2.0 ? The US has carried out new strikes inside Iran, targeting a military facility and downing Iranian attack drones, US officials said.
US Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait of Hormuz, according to US officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The fresh strikes, combined with the latest strident remarks from Trump about Iran, Oman and the strait of Hormuz, underscored how far apart the US and Iran appear to be in talks aimed at ending the war.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel launched broad strikes and declared a huge swathe of the south a new combat zone.
After saying over the weekend that a deal was close, Trump on Wednesday threatened to
“finish the job” if Tehran did not agree to deal.
At the cabinet meeting, Trump also appeared to direct a warning at Oman, a US ally, when asked about a possible short-term arrangement allowing Iran and Oman to control the strait of Hormuz, which remains choked off.
Trump said the strait would be
“open to everybody” and
“and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up.” The White House did not immediately clarify whether Trump had misspoken.
Iranian state TV had earlier claimed it had obtained an unofficial draft of an agreement that would restore commercial shipping through the strait to prewar levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly managing traffic. The White House called the report a “complete fabrication”.
Another key issue unresolved is if a US-Iran ceasefire will cover Israel’s operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon. Iran has insisted Lebanon must be covered by any ceasefire agreement negotiated with the US.
On Tuesday the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his military is
“deepening its operation” in Lebanon; and overnight Israel’s military clashed with Hezbollah fighters along a strategic river in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pushed farther north.
Hezbollah described
“point-blank range” combat with Israeli forces in a strategic town just beyond an Israeli-declared
“yellow line” in the country’s south.
Early on Thursday, Israel’s military issued further evacuation warnings for residents of Tyre in Lebanon’s south.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since 2 March, when Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of Iran.
Since then, Israeli strikes have pummelled Lebanon’s south, east and its capital Beirut, killing more than 3,200 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said that 10 of its soldiers had been killed since the ceasefire, six by Hezbollah’s explosive drones.
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