Iran shot down another U.S. drone Sunday, just hours after American forces fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of a commercial ship trying to circumvent a U.S.-led blockade of Iranian ports.
U.S. Central Command confirmed the downing of the MQ-1 Predator drone and said it conducted strikes against Iranian radar and command and control sites in response.
“The measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “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.”
That whirlwind of military clashes came even as Washington and Tehran appeared to be nearing a deal to extend a ceasefire, though the exact status of the negotiations remained murky.
President Trump told Fox News in a weekend interview that the text of a tentative agreement between the U.S. and Iran stated that Tehran would not only give up its quest to develop a nuclear weapon but also would promise to never seek to buy one.
“So now [the agreement] says, ’We will not develop or in any way purchase a military weapon.’ That’s a big difference. So we’re getting what we want slowly, very tough negotiators,” Mr. Trump said.
“It takes a long time. I’m in no hurry,” the president said. “If you’re going to be in a hurry, you’re not going to make a good deal.”
The Trump administration sent a revised peace framework to Iran for review, The New York Times reported Sunday. It included the president’s tougher demands for concessions.
Mr. Trump said over the weekend that he planned to make a “final determination” on whether to approve a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the U.S. ceasefire with Iran. That extension would set the table for thornier negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program, a top priority for the U.S.
Meanwhile, the region remains on edge.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday that it “disabled” a Gambia-flagged commercial ship, the M/V Lian Star, after it ignored 20 warnings from U.S. forces and kept sailing toward Iran.
“A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement.
Since the start of the blockade, U.S. forces have disabled at least five commercial vessels and redirected 116 ships, CENTCOM said.
Since the early days of the war, Tehran has sought to shut down commercial maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the movement of oil and other goods in and out of the Persian Gulf. The U.S. responded with a naval blockade to prevent ships from reaching Iran, squeezing the country’s economy and its leadership.
Despite the fragile ceasefire, the two sides are still engaged in limited hostilities. U.S. forces last week hit several targets in southern Iran that Pentagon officials said posed a threat to American troops.
On Sunday, Iranian state-run media reported that Iranian forces had shot down an MQ-1 Predator drone.
“The unmanned aerial vehicle was immediately tracked by [Iranian] air defense systems and targeted by advanced surface-to-air missiles before it could carry out any raid,” the state-run Fars News Agency reported.
The shootdown is the latest in a string of American aircraft taken down during the Iran conflict.
At least 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones, four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35 and seven KC-135 refueling tankers are among the 42 total aircraft lost, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report.
Also Sunday, a U.S. official told CBS News that four U.S. service members and three military contractors were injured last week in an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an American base in Kuwait. That incident underscores the continued clashes between the two nations even as peace talks advance.
Iranian leaders did not comment publicly on the latest terms of the potential deal with the U.S., but key military officials indicated that Iran has leverage.
“Iran has won this battle, and the United States is going down the spiral of defeat and decline,” said Brig. Gen. Yadollah Javani, the deputy commander for political affairs with Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Iran’s state-run media.
Key U.S. lawmakers said they believe the Iranian regime is under significant pressure to make a deal.
“There is a tremendous amount of pressure on the regime right now. The regime is fairly discombobulated, as you know. That’s why it’s taken so long to negotiate anything,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Republican, told “Fox News Sunday.”
“I think we need to have an opportunity to see if we can get to a deal,” he said.
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