US launches 'self-defensive' strikes on Iran as talks to end war continue

Dubai/Washington: US forces on Monday conducted strikes in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what they 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, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.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 is 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.Also on Monday, Iran said it had downed a “hostile” stealth drone using a new air defence system, Iranian news agencies reported, 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 the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Israel’s military soon thereafter said it was attacking Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and other areas.Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April, but Israel has continued air strikes 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 a 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 so.