Donald Trump has asked for changes to the latest terms of a proposal that could still lead to a peace deal, even as the US and Iran traded fresh air strikes over the weekend near the Strait of Hormuz. The latest round of attacks came after a ceasefire took effect on 8 April, underscoring how fragile the talks remain.
The US Central Command said it carried out self-defense strikes on Iranian radar and command-and-control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran, and on Qeshm Island this weekend. It said the targets included Iranian military air defences, a ground control station and two drones that posed a clear threat to ships transiting through regional waters. No American servicemen or women were injured.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it hit an air base used by US forces in retaliation, striking the base’s communications tower on Sirri Island in the Gulf. Tehran’s military said its response would be completely different if US aggression was repeated, while also dismissing speculation about its actions. The exchange widened a confrontation that had already been running against the clock, with both sides saying the ceasefire was in place but neither showing signs of standing down.
The stakes around the Strait of Hormuz help explain why the fighting matters beyond the immediate exchange. Roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments usually pass through the channel, and the latest deal discussed by Trump’s team included a 60-day cessation of violence, a call to reopen the strait and a framework for resuming negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. But no formal agreement has been reached, and that leaves each new strike free to reset the diplomacy.
Kuwait’s military said it was confronting hostile missile and drone attacks with its air-defence systems, adding another layer to a clash that now stretches across Gulf airspace. The unanswered question is no longer whether the ceasefire exists on paper. It is whether the next hit lands before the negotiators can turn it into something lasting.
