US carries out new strikes in Iran against military site, official says

The US military carried out new strikes overnight Wednesday-Thursday in Iran, targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to US forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a US official tells Reuters.

The official says the US military has also intercepted and shot down multiple Iranian drones that posed a similar threat.

The comments from the US official come shortly after Iranian media reported that three explosions were heard east of the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas at around 1:30 a.m. local time. Iranian media said that air defenses were activated for several minutes and that authorities were following up to determine the origin of the sounds.

The US military strikes, which have not been previously reported, came during negotiations to end a three-month-old war that has killed thousands and sent global energy prices sharply higher since it began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks.

US President Donald Trump earlier on Wednesday dismissed an Iranian state media report that Iran and Oman would jointly manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a peace deal. Trump said the waterway would remain open.

The US last carried out what it called defensive strikes against Iran on Monday, in what Iran called a violation of the countries’ fragile ceasefire. The US targets included boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites that the US military’s Central Command said posed a threat to US forces.