US attacks missile sites in Iran, despite ceasefire

TEHRAN – US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on May 25, US Central Command said, imperiling a fragile ceasefire and casting new doubt on a deal to end the Middle East war.

The strikes came as top Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha for the latest round of talks to end the months-long conflict, and as the Israeli military stepped up hostilities with Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Oil prices fluctuated in the wake of the US strikes, which may threaten any agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where an Iranian blockade has choked global fuel supplies.

“US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” Mr Tim Hawkins, a US 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”.

Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB reported several loud explosions were heard in the vicinity of Bandar Abbas at around midnight local time.

It added the situation in the southern port city was normal and local authorities were investigating the cause of the blasts.

The strikes threatened an already fragile ceasefire that began April 8 as the United States and Iran struggle to reach an accord to end a war that has rattled the global economy with a severe disruption of energy flows.

Oil prices remained below US$100 on the morning of May 26, with West Texas Intermediate dropping more than five per cent while international benchmark Brent crude was up.

Hopes for an accord in recent days were dealt another blow when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.

Mr Trump also said in a social media post he expected Iran to hand over its enriched uranium to the United States to be destroyed, or have it destroyed in Iran with an international witness.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Mr Trump wrote.

It was not clear whether he meant this is part of an emerging accord with Iran.

The Atomic Energy Commission that Mr Trump cited was abolished in 1974 and its functions were divided between two successor bodies.

Earlier on May 25, Mr Trump said it should be mandatory for Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain and Jordan to sign up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements brokered in 2020 with nations historically hostile to Israel, as part of a peace deal with Iran.

Mr Trump said he had spoken to the leaders of those countries on May 23 about efforts to end the war with Iran.

Bahrain and the UAE have already signed the accords, along with Morocco and Sudan.

Gulf heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have said they will never normalise ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is created.

‘Going crazy’

Ms Anna Jacobs of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said Mr Trump’s latest demand added to the disaster that has been the war on all fronts for Gulf nations.

“The national security of the Gulf states has been threatened more than ever before because of President Trump’s reckless decisions, and he expects Arab states to thank him and to normalise relations with Israel, which they will not do at this stage,” she said.

“These expectations and assumptions from this US administration shows how little they understand the Middle East.”

Mr Trump’s maximalist demand came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested a deal could be reached within the day, causing world oil prices to tumble based on renewed optimism about an agreement.

“We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today,” Mr Rubio told reporters during a visit to New Delhi, referring to hopes for a deal.

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei poured cold water on hopes for a quick final settlement.

“It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” he told a weekly news briefing.

“But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent – no one can make such a claim.”

‘Critical moment’

Mr Netanyahu said on May 25 that he had ordered the military to intensify its offensive in Lebanon, accusing the group of targeting Israeli forces with drone attacks.

“I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel.

The Israeli leader said on May 24 that he and Mr Trump had agreed that “any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely” before peace was reached.

Iranian officials have stressed that, despite the long-standing US demand for an end to its uranium enrichment, talks on the issue of the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme have been deferred until after an initial agreement. AFP