US and Iran Exchange Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz Amid Peace Negotiations

Washington DC/Tehran: Aerial exchanges between the United States and Iran have escalated sharply, with both sides claiming strikes on military installations near the Strait of Hormuz. The US said its attacks on Saturday and Sunday were carried out in response to Iran shooting down an American MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace.

US Central Command said it conducted self-defence strikes on drone command-and-control centres and radar installations at Goruk and Qeshm Island in Iran. American aircraft also destroyed Iranian air defence systems, a ground control station, and two drones that had allegedly posed a threat to vessels in the region. CENTCOM confirmed via X that no US personnel were injured in the operation.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it retaliated by striking the airbase used by US forces to attack a communications tower on Sirri Island, located 40 miles off Iran's southern coast. The IRGC warned that any repeat of US strikes would draw a fundamentally different response.

Kuwait's military also confirmed it was using its air defence systems to intercept missile and drone attacks amid the regional escalation. Iran had struck a US airbase in Kuwait the previous week.

A temporary ceasefire has been in place since April 8, but both countries have so far been unable to reach a permanent peace agreement. Peace talks have been thrown into uncertainty after US President Donald Trump demanded changes to the existing proposals on the table. The conflict has also driven up global fuel prices, as the Strait of Hormuz carries approximately one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas exports.