The US military carried out new strikes in Iran Wednesday, targeting a military site that threatened American troops and commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Today, US Central Command Forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz,” a US official said in a statement.
“US forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone,” the official added.
Despite the skirmish, the fragile cease-fire that has been in place since April 8 is still considered to be holding.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” the US official said.
The downed drones were reportedly targeting a US commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Axios.
There have been at least two dozen attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz since the war with Iran began.
Tehran has effectively shut down the key oil chokepoint with repeated attacks and threats on cargo ships and tankers that tried to sail through.
The US strikes were first reported by Reuters.
The strikes follow “self-defense strikes” launched by the US military on Monday against Iranian boats that were reportedly laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Those attacks also took out a surface-to-air missile site in Bandar Abbas.
The missile site based at Iran’s primary naval station was reportedly targeting US warplanes, according to CENTCOM.
Wednesday’s clash also come as US and Iranian negotiators work to finalize a memorandum of understanding that would reopen the key waterway to international shipping — without tolls — and allow additional time for an agreement on the fate of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles.
President Trump warned earlier Wednesday that if a deal is not agreed to, “we’ll have to just finish the job” militarily.
Trump also chided the regime for thinking “they were going to out-wait me,” and argued they were “negotiating on fumes” in the wake of the destruction of their air force, navy and the deaths of key leaders since the initial US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.
“I think it looks like they want to just make a deal,” the president said during a cabinet meeting at the White House. “I don’t think they have a choice.”
With Post wires
