US Media is calling the attacks “defensive”
“The United States committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region in the past 48 hours. … Iran holds the U.S. regime responsible for all the consequences resulting from these aggressive and unjustified actions,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force, said on X: “Negotiation with the enemy is pure loss. … The treacherous enemy has once again violated the cease-fire during the time of negotiations. The Aerospace Force of the IRGC is prepared for a decisive, swift response and the implementation of measures ordered by the esteemed Commander-in-Chie
Capt. Tim Hawkins of the U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the strikes were “self-defensive” and were launched “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
Get your troops out of the region!
On Monday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social: “Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!”
Israel intensifies attacks in Lebanon as Iran talks stall
Israel has launched new ground operations in Lebanon outside of the so-called ‘yellow line’, the area which Israel currently occupies; strikes have also been launched across Lebanon’s south and in the Bekaa, as part of the escalation.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Monday that Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,185 people and wounded 9,633 since 2 March.
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has returned from Qatar to Iran following Qatari mediation to push through a deal with the US.
United States forces attacked missile launch sites and mine-laying vessels in southern Iran, in what a US military spokesman described as “self-defence” strikes.
US strikes as a show of ‘bad faith’, warns of consequences
It wasn’t immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations. The strikes came after Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went to Qatar as part of the talks, which US President Donald Trump said Monday were “proceeding nicely.”