The US says it has carried out strikes in southern Iran, including on missile sites – National
The US military said on Monday it had carried out “defensive” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and mine-laying boats, as President Donald Trump said on social media that talks with Tehran were “going well.”
The strikes were designed to “protect our military from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military “exercised self-restraint during the ceasefire,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command in a statement.
Other details were not immediately available, including more details on threats from Iran and what this means for the talks. There was no official response from Iran, which had sent its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf to Qatar to discuss a possible deal with the US.
Qatar, which faced heavy attacks from Iran during the war, holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
In Iran, the Tabnak news website, believed to be close to former Revolutionary Guard chief Mohsen Rezaei, identified four dead soldiers it said were killed in US boat strikes. Iranian state television separately reported explosions around Bandar Abbas, a city on the Strait of Hormuz that is home to a military port and dual-use airport.
The strikes were the latest attacks to shake the weeks-long ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas ever traded, remains blocked by Iran, disrupting global energy markets.
Trump expresses recognition of Israel
Earlier, Trump said that any agreement to end the war with Iran should include a requirement that many additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, join the Abraham Accords, agreements created by the US since Trump’s first term aimed at normalizing relations with Israel.
The proposal comes as the fledgling Iran deal faces criticism from some hard-line Republicans on Iran, and could add new negotiating issues to the talks.
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Trump identified Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should sign “immediately”. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020, recognizing Israel as a nation.
He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States in trying to put this complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all these countries, at least, at one time, sign the Abrahamic Covenants.”
Trump has long hoped that Saudi Arabia would join. Saudi Arabia in particular has been asking Israel for decades to return to its 1967 borders and allow the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel’s conduct in the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has further divided the Gulf Arab countries and the rest of the Muslim world.
Pakistan remains an important mediator
Respect for a Palestinian state also remains key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s stance on Israel has not changed despite Trump’s latest proposal.
The president said he brought the Abraham Accords program with the leaders during the talks on Saturday. He said he would accept “one or two” countries that refuse to sign, but said the majority must be willing. Egypt and Jordan already officially recognize Israel and have long-standing peace agreements. Turkey first recognized Israel in 1949.
Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how the proposal would work in the countries on Trump’s list.
“The compensation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives a completely new dimension to the political and mediation process because this issue was not on the list,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favorable agreement.
Nevertheless, Khan said, “the diplomatic channel is still working, and I believe that Pakistan is in the middle, supported by the countries of the region.”
It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran would be finalized. Trump has suggested that even Iran could eventually sign the accords, if a deal is reached.
These agreements are a series of political, economic and security agreements created under the influence of the US during the Trump administration, which Sudan, Morocco, and Kazakhstan recently joined.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
