US and Iran exchange strikes as ceasefire talks stall

The US military says it launched self-defense strikes on Iran and shot down ballistic missiles and drones fired at ships and Gulf countries.

The strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz targeted an Iranian military ground control station, US Central Command said. The command said the action responded to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East. It added that US forces also shot down three attack drones Iran had launched toward civilian mariners in regional waters.

Iran said it attacked US bases and helicopters in a regional country with missiles and drones in retaliation. Centcom said Tehran fired two missiles at Kuwait and three at Bahrain. All five broke apart or were intercepted by US and Bahrain air defense forces.

The latest attacks come amid stalled ceasefire negotiations after talks on a deal to end the months-long war failed to advance over the weekend.

The IRGC said disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the aggressive US military.

Centcom said Iran launched several ballistic missiles toward countries in the region. Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in Bahrain and Kuwait, where US military bases are located.

Earlier, Centcom said it struck and disabled an unladen oil tanker sailing toward Iran as part of Washington's naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which began on 13 April. A US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie after its crew ignored repeated warnings, the command said. Centcom released footage it said showed the moment the tanker was hit on Tuesday.

The escalation comes after US President Donald Trump told his critics to sit back and relax, saying Iran really wants to make a deal and it will be a good one for the USA. US media reported that Trump requested edits to the terms of a potential peace deal after meeting with senior aides. The changes related to the Strait of Hormuz, the removal of highly enriched uranium from Iran, and a framework to reopen negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied this had been on the table and said Washington was constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands.

Centcom said US forces enforced blockade measures against the Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie as it transited international waters toward Kharg Island. The ship's crew failed to comply with directions from US forces multiple times over a 24-hour period. Overall, six commercial vessels have been disabled and another 122 redirected since the blockade went into force, the command said.

The BBC has contacted Botswana's government for comment.

The latest skirmish comes as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared publicly before Congress for the first time since the start of the war. Rubio testified that US negotiators had not offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for reopening the strait. Right now, everything that's been discussed with them is that any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place in the first place, which is their nuclear program, he said.