June 1 (UPI) — The United States and Iran said they traded attacks late Sunday, with each side claiming to have hit military targets, the latest tit-for-tat strikes amid a brittling cease-fire.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it attacked Iranian radar and command and control sites in Goruk, on the Iranian mainland, and Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, on Saturday and Sunday.
It said the “measured and deliberate strikes” were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions,” including the shootdown of a U.S. drone operating in international waters.
“U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” it said.
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Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement Monday that fighters of its aerospace force targeted the air base from which the U.S. assets that attacked a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in Hormozgan province originated.
“The predetermined targets were destroyed,” it claimed.
IRGC in the statement warned that if attacked again, the response would be “completely different” while holding the United States responsible.
The announcements came after the Kuwait Army said its air defense systems were responding to missile and drone strikes.
It was not clear if the attacks targeting Kuwait were related, but the United States does have a military presence in the country.
The two sides have repeatedly traded shots — and accusations — at one another since a cease-fire was announced in April but the exchanges have intensified in the last week as Washington seeks to secure an agreement to end the war.
The Trump administration over the last week has repeatedly suggested that it was close to securing an agreement with Iran, only to later temper expectations.
President Donald Trump early Monday repeated claims that “Iran really wants to make a deal,” but blamed Democrats and some “unpatriotic Republicans” for seemingly criticizing him for how the negotiations are progressing.
“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!” he said in a statement on his Truth Social media platform.
Danny Citrinowicz, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, said that while neither Washington nor Iran appears to be seeking a broader conflict, the repeated confrontations risk triggering “a crisis neither side originally intended.”
“In other words, the greatest danger may not be a deliberate decision to go to war, but a gradual escalation driven by recurring incidents in an increasingly volatile environment,” he said online.
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- Defense
- Donald Trump
- Drones
June 1 (UPI) — The United States and Iran said they traded attacks late Sunday, with each side claiming to have hit military targets, the latest tit-for-tat strikes amid a brittling cease-fire.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it attacked Iranian radar and command and control sites in Goruk, on the Iranian mainland, and Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, on Saturday and Sunday.
It said the “measured and deliberate strikes” were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions,” including the shootdown of a U.S. drone operating in international waters.
“U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters,” it said.
Related
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement Monday that fighters of its aerospace force targeted the air base from which the U.S. assets that attacked a telecommunications tower on Sirik Island in Hormozgan province originated.
“The predetermined targets were destroyed,” it claimed.
IRGC in the statement warned that if attacked again, the response would be “completely different” while holding the United States responsible.
The announcements came after the Kuwait Army said its air defense systems were responding to missile and drone strikes.
It was not clear if the attacks targeting Kuwait were related, but the United States does have a military presence in the country.
The two sides have repeatedly traded shots — and accusations — at one another since a cease-fire was announced in April but the exchanges have intensified in the last week as Washington seeks to secure an agreement to end the war.
The Trump administration over the last week has repeatedly suggested that it was close to securing an agreement with Iran, only to later temper expectations.
President Donald Trump early Monday repeated claims that “Iran really wants to make a deal,” but blamed Democrats and some “unpatriotic Republicans” for seemingly criticizing him for how the negotiations are progressing.
“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!” he said in a statement on his Truth Social media platform.
Danny Citrinowicz, a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, said that while neither Washington nor Iran appears to be seeking a broader conflict, the repeated confrontations risk triggering “a crisis neither side originally intended.”
“In other words, the greatest danger may not be a deliberate decision to go to war, but a gradual escalation driven by recurring incidents in an increasingly volatile environment,” he said online.
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