The U.S. has launched new strikes on Iran, days after targeting the country’s missile sites and mine-laying boats, according to officials.
These fresh strikes were aimed at a military site believed to have posed a threat to American forces and commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passageway in the Middle East, a US official told Reuters Wednesday.
Despite the latest attack, the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that has held for nearly two months is still considered to be in effect, a U.S. official told CBS News.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Central Command announced what it called “self-defense” strikes, targeting Iran’s missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in the Strait of Hormuz.
open image in gallery“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said Monday evening.
“U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.
The Independent has reached out to CENTCOM for comment on the new strikes.
open image in galleryThe fresh strikes came after President Donald Trump threatened to “finish the job” if Tehran and Washington couldn’t reach an agreement that he was satisfied with.
“Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal,” he said at a White House cabinet meeting Wednesday.
“So far, they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be — either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he added.
open image in galleryIt’s been almost three months since the U.S. and Israel began launching strikes against Iran as Trump claimed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions posed an imminent threat to Americans.
Despite Trump repeatedly claiming that the war would end soon, peace talks have been slow-moving.
A majority of American voters, 60 percent, oppose the Iran war, while 40 percent support it, according to a recent Fox News poll.
When asked which side they think is winning the war, 65 percent said the U.S. and 34 percent said Iran.