Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The United States and Iran said they traded missile strikes straining an already fragile ceasefire as negotiations between the two sides have stalled. The US Central Command said it conducted weekend strikes at Iranian air defences, ground station and drone sites in retaliation to Tehran shooting down a US MQ-1 drone. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted an “air base from which the attack originated” used by the US military, without specifying the location of the base.
Meanwhile the Israeli forces have begun a historic incursion deep inside Lebanon drawing global condemnation and putting the US-Iran ceasefire at risk. Amid the escalation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations. The US proposed that as a first step Hezbollah will stop all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut.
Earlier on May 31, Israeli forces seized a symbolic fort in southern Lebanon that offers commanding views across Lebanon and into northern Israel. The talks to end the conflict between the US and Iran continue even as US President Donald Trump has called for tougher conditions on Iran nuclear enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has revealed that “dialogue and an exchange of messages are ongoing” between Tehran and Washington despite the current deadlock in talks.
US President Donald Trump has said Iran really wanted to make a deal with the US and that it would be a good one for Washington and its allies. His remark comes hours after the US military said it struck Iranian military sites during the weekend.
