US strikes Iranian drone site; Tehran says it hit American airbase

The exchange raised new doubts over the fragile US-Iran ceasefire.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States carried out new strikes in southern Iran overnight, targeting a drone-control site near Bandar Abbas and shooting down four Iranian attack drones, as Tehran said it responded by striking an American airbase.

The exchange raised new doubts over a fragile US-Iran ceasefire that Washington says it is trying to preserve while negotiations continue over the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

A US official told Reuters that American forces struck an Iranian ground-control station in Bandar Abbas that was preparing to launch a fifth one-way attack drone. The official said US forces also shot down four Iranian drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz.

“These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” the official said.

The strikes came two days after the US carried out what it described as separate self-defense strikes in southern Iran. US Central Command said those earlier targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats allegedly attempting to lay mines.

“US forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said after Monday’s strikes.

“US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” he said.

Iranian media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas early Thursday, with air defense systems activated in the area. Four people were reportedly injured in the explosions.

Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted a US airbase in retaliation for the strike near Bandar Abbas airport.

“Following this morning’s aggression by the invading US military against a location on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport using aerial projectiles, the American air base that served as the source of the attack was targeted at 4:50 a.m.,” the IRGC said, according to Iranian state media.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said the IRGC did not identify which US base it claimed to have targeted.

The Guard warned that any renewed US action would bring a “more decisive” response and said responsibility for the consequences lay with the “aggressor.”

Kuwait, a US ally that hosts American forces, said it was responding to missile and drone attacks Thursday morning. There was no immediate independent confirmation of damage or casualties at a US base.

The latest exchange follows repeated accusations by both sides that the other is violating the ceasefire. Tehran has accused Washington of carrying out “unlawful and unjust actions” since the truce began and of violating the ceasefire in Iran’s Hormozgan region.

The US says its operations have been limited, defensive actions meant to protect American forces and commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors.

The escalation comes as US President Donald Trump has said negotiations with Iran are close to extending the ceasefire.

Trump also dismissed an Iranian state media report that Iran and Oman could jointly manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a peace arrangement. Trump said the waterway would remain open.