U.S., Iran Exchange New Attacks As Trump Signals Agreement Is Not Close To Being Announced

Iran and the U.S. exchanged fresh strikes as negotiations between the countries have not yielded concrete results despite reports of progress.

U.S. forces said they shot down four Iran one-way attack drones and targeted a ground control station inside the country that posed a direct threat to them and commercial shipping.

The incident took place near Bandar Abbas, a city near the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, U.S. ships had tried to cross the key waterway without authorization from Tehran, according to Iranian media cited by NBC News.

A U.S. official told the outlet that the attacks were limited and do not mean major combat operations will be resumed.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the “U.S. air base identified as the source of the attack.” It did not confirm its location, but Kuwait said it was targeted by a missile and drone attack on Thursday.

Negotiations appear to continue in the meantime. And while both sides claimed there was progress earlier this week, President Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday that an agreement wasn’t closed and he wouldn’t be rushed to one by the impact of the closure of the Hormuz Strait in the international economy.

The White House also rejected a report from Iranian state TV outlining parts of a memorandum of understanding between the countries to end the war.

“This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER,” the White House’s rapid response account said in a social media publication.

The report in question claimed that the draft to end the war between the U.S. and Iran would see commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz restored within a month.

Citing Iranian state TV, Reuters detailed that the framework would remove U.S. troops from the vicinity of Iran and end its own naval blockade. The agreement would not apply to military vessels.

The framework, the state TV noted, also “envisages Iran managing ship traffic through the strait in cooperation with Oman.” It noted that it has not been finalized yet. Should a final agreement is reached within 60 days, it could be passed as a binding UN Security Council resolution, it added.