US military carries out new targeted strike on Iran as Tehran’s leaders weigh mediator’s proposals

WASHINGTON/CAIRO: President Donald Trump said the US military carried out new limited strikes on Iran early on Saturday, targeting its air defense systems.

Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil shipments.

The ​state news ⁠agency IRNA quoted local witnesses as saying two projectiles had struck Qeshm after the sound ‌of ‌an aircraft was ​heard over the ‌island.

Also earlier on Friday night, Iranian media, ​citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ‌said ‌that ⁠the country's ​air defenses destroyed ⁠a US MQ-1 ⁠”Predator" drone ‌over Qeshm

 Trump in an exchange with reporters described the military action as “minor.”

“They knocked out — they built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” Trump told reporters shortly after arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening (local time).

The US military also reported carrying out what it described as defensive strikes on Monday. Explosions were heard on the islands of Qeshm and Hengam in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and in the nearby mainland area of Bandar Abbas.

Saturday’s strikes are the first since Trump’s Republican Party was dealt a stunning repudiation in Tuesday’s midterm elections in the US.

The electoral setback — Republicans lost both chambers of Congress — was stoked in part by voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s execution of the conflict and elevated fuel prices, a byproduct of the war that’s affected nearly every sector of the global economy.

In the days since Republicans’ shellacking at the polls, Trump has vacillated between threatening to “destroy” Iran and suggesting that a resolution to the war is near.

Qatar presents new proposals to Iranian officials

Earlier Friday, two Middle East government officials said Iran was reviewing proposals presented by chief mediator Qatar aimed at addressing differences with the United States about Tehran’s nuclear program.

But one of the officials stressed that the Iranians, at least at the moment, remain unwilling to engage in negotiations with the Trump administration over its atomic activities until the US agrees to several core conditions that Iran has been demanding be part of any ceasefire agreement.

Difference over Iran’s nuclear program is the thorniest issue and one that Trump insists must be resolved as part of any deal meant to end the more than 8-month-old war.

Both officials were not authorized to comment publicly on the delicate negotiations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced in a post on X late Friday that the United States was offering “a reward of up to $20 million and possible relocation for information about Iran’s nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community, or the movement of any of the above.”

The post included a link to the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program.

Iran insists on several concessions before nuclear talks

The White House declined to comment about the Qatari-presented proposals on Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump noted earlier Friday in an exchange with reporters that mediators’ discussions with Iran continue.

“We are talking to Iran. We have been,” said Trump, who insists the US military remains in control of the conflict with a battered Iran.

Yet, Tehran insists on several concessions from the US, which Trump has declined in the past. Among the core demands Iran says must be met before engaging in nuclear talks: ending the US blockade on Iran’s ports, lifting sanctions, unfreezing its assets, issuing compensation for war damage, and ending hostilities throughout the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon.

Qataris and Iranians discuss a bridge deal to get to nuclear talks

Mediators and Iran have discussed a potential bridge deal aimed at helping pave the way for further talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, according to regional officials.

They said the proposal, which was recently presented to the two sides by Qatari mediators, called for implementing trust-building measures over the course of two days.

These measures include lifting the US blockade and releasing some of the billions of dollars in Iranian frozen funds seized over the years as part of a US campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear program. In return, Tehran would allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors at its sites bombed by the US and Israel, the officials said.

On the second day, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz in line with a modified agreement that Iran and Oman have reached on the waterway but has not been approved by the United States, the officials said. That mechanism would be temporary until a permanent deal is reached on the strait in cooperation with other Gulf countries, they said.

Following the implementation of the measures, the US and Iran would embark on extensive talks addressing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as well as other aspects of its program, the officials said.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60 percent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.

Diplomatic efforts pick up following US election

A flurry of diplomatic phone calls in recent days between leaders in the Arabian Gulf and beyond has been aimed at easing tensions in the region. Concerns have mounted over the possibility that Trump could still order the US military to carry out new strikes against Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke on Friday with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, about developments, according to the Qatari government.

The Qatari government announced the call between the countries’ defense officials after confirming earlier Friday that Trump and Qatar’s emir had a separate call to discuss efforts to deescalate tensions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also held phone calls with his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts on Friday to discuss tensions in the region. Araghchi discussed with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein Tehran’s vision for resuming negotiations with the US, according to Iraq’s News Agency.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who held two calls with Araghchi this week, said in a post on X on Friday that it was critical that both sides demonstrate “flexibility” to achieve the “compromise solutions” necessary to prevent the region from sliding into a new wave of escalation.

Egypt’s top diplomat also held a phone call with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to emphasize the importance of political negotiations to prevent another military confrontation that could fuel violence and destruction, according to a statement by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.

 Source: Arab News