The US military carried out fresh airstrikes on an Iranian military site early Thursday, targeting a location officials determined posed a threat to American forces and to maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official told Reuters.
The official did not identify the nature of the site or confirm whether it was connected to a series of explosions heard in eastern Iran shortly before the announcement.
Separately, a US official told Axios that Iran had launched four attack drones toward a commercial vessel. The American military shot down all four, then struck a second Iranian drone launch unit on the ground before it could fire.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported three explosions heard east of Bandar Abbas after midnight Wednesday. The agency said Iranian air defences were activated for several minutes and that investigations were under way to determine the source. Witnesses cited by Dropsight said the sounds came from near the airport and the Behesht Bandar area, describing them as resembling surface-to-air missile fire. One witness said they heard what sounded like a fighter jet before the blasts.
The strikes come as negotiations over reopening the strait have stalled, a development that has frustrated President Donald Trump. He had said days earlier that a deal was close. Trump has repeatedly insisted the strait falls within international waters and must remain open, and has ruled out allowing Iran to exercise control over it. Iran has signalled its intent to impose fees on ships transiting the waterway, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes.
