US, Iran exchange fire as negotiations stall
The United States and Iran said Monday they had again traded strikes, straining an already fragile ceasefire as negotiations between the two sides have stalled.
Weeks of complicated talks marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence have not managed to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is essential to oil supplies.
Washington and Tehran have sharp differences on questions like Iranian nuclear efforts and the fighting in Lebanon, which Iran has demanded must stop as part of a broader agreement.
The latest exchange of fire coincided with Israel expanding its offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Netanyahu vowing to push deeper into the country.
The US military announced that it had carried out “self-defense strikes” on Iranian radar and drone control sites in the southern part of the country over the weekend — its third such wave in just over a week.
The strikes were in response to the downing of a US MQ-1 drone, it added.
Shortly after, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted an “air base from which the attack originated” used by the US military, state broadcaster IRIB reported Monday, without specifying the location of the base.
The Guards’ announcement came on the heels of the Kuwaiti military saying its air defences intercepted “hostile missile and drone attacks”, without mentioning where attack originated.
– Sticking points –
Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic’s senior leadership.
While Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.
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