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Tensions between Washington and Tehran are escalating again, as both sides exchange attacks and warnings of harsher reactions in the strategic Strait of Hormuz area...
A new wave of tension has engulfed relations between the United States and Iran, after Tehran announced that it had struck a US air base in the region, in response to US attacks on a military facility near Bandar Abbas airport.
The US earlier declared that it had carried out "defensive strikes", claiming that the struck object posed a threat to US troops and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important sea routes for transporting oil.
Tehran condemned the US operation as “pre-dawn aggression,” while Iranian forces announced they had launched a retaliatory strike against a US base. According to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, the Revolutionary Guard did not say which base was targeted, but warned of an “even more determined” response if the attacks continued.
"The enemy knows that aggression will not go unanswered," said the statement from the Iranian forces, which attributed responsibility for the consequences to the "aggressor."
The exchange of attacks has increased uncertainty over the fate of a fragile ceasefire between the two countries. Earlier this week, Washington announced that it had carried out “self-defensive strikes” against vessels that, according to US authorities, were laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz area. Iran described the attacks as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
At the same time, it remains unclear whether there is a real agreement to reduce tensions. Iranian state television reported that an “initial informal framework of understanding” has been drawn up between Tehran and Washington. According to reports, the draft envisaged the withdrawal of US forces from areas near Iran and the lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports. However, the American side categorically rejected these claims, calling them “completely fabricated.”
The head of the National Security Committee in the Iranian Parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, stated that Tehran will not retreat from the "red lines" in negotiations with the US. He emphasized that Iran will not give up its right to enrich uranium, maintain enriched uranium reserves, control over the Strait of Hormuz and the demand for the lifting of sanctions.
"It is clear that Donald Trump, seeking a way out of his strategic impasse, moves between threats and calls for agreement," Azizi wrote on the X platform.
One of the most sensitive issues in the negotiations remains the fate of the approximately 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that the Islamic Republic possesses.
US President Donald Trump stated during a cabinet meeting that the Iranian leadership "very much wants to make a deal", but added that Tehran's proposals "are not yet where they need to be".
"We are not satisfied," he said, adding that "either the agreement will be reached, or we will finish the job."
A US official confirmed that US forces shot down four Iranian drones and bombed a control center in Bandar Abbas, before a fifth drone was launched. According to him, the operation was “limited and exclusively defensive”, aimed at preserving the ceasefire in place since early April.
The Iranian news agency FARS reported that three explosions were heard overnight east of the city of Bandar Abbas.
In parallel with the military developments, the US Treasury Department announced the imposition of sanctions on the Iranian Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the institution created by Tehran to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Iranian efforts to pressure international commercial shipping show the regime's "desperate need for money." The US also warned that any entity paying transit fees to Iranian authorities could face sanctions, as it would be considered supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. /Pamphlet/
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