CENTCOM: US strikes Iranian missile sites and mine-laying vessels
CENTCOM stated that US military struck missile launch sites and mine-laying vessels in southern Iran on Monday (25 May).
“US forces launched a strike in self-defence in southern Iran to protect our personnel from threats posed by Iranian forces,” said CENTCOM spokesperson Tim Hawkins in a statement.
“The targets included missile launch sites and Iranian vessels attempting to lay mines. CENTCOM continues to defend our forces while exercising restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” he added.
According to Hawkins, the strikes occurred in the Bandar Abbas area, a major naval base for Iran. The attack destroyed two vessels belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and hit a ground-to-air missile site.
Four people were reported killed in the strikes, with the total casualty count still unclear, according to Fars News Agency citing Iranian state television.
Fox News reported that two Iranian ships were seen laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and a missile site targeted US fighter jets. In response, US forces carried out a “self-defence” strike.
The report, citing a senior US official on Monday, stated that the US strikes “have temporarily concluded.”
According to two sources, the strikes do not signal the end of the weeks-long ceasefire between the US and Iran.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that negotiations with Iran were “going well,” but warned that Washington would resume military strikes if talks failed, with future attacks being “larger and stronger than before.”
Trump also stated that Iran’s enriched uranium would be destroyed after being handed over to the US, either at the site or at “another acceptable location.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran does not agree to moving enriched uranium abroad, denying reports that Iran is “ready to transfer high-enriched uranium from its territory.”
The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing an Iranian official, that any potential temporary agreement between the two sides would not include a nuclear deal.