US says strikes were self-defense in response to drone shootdowns; Kuwait intercepts drones and missiles

US forces conduct a maritime blockade against Iran on May 28. [AFP]
US forces conduct a maritime blockade against Iran on May 28. [AFP]

US forces launched fresh airstrikes against Iranian military facilities amid stalling end-of-war negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

The US said the strikes were a measured act of self-defense carried out during a truce period, but Iran immediately declared retaliation, claiming it had struck American military facilities in the Middle East.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, that it had struck radar and drone control facilities in Goruk and on Qeshm Island in Iran, describing the action as an exercise of the right to self-defense.

CENTCOM said the strikes were "a deliberate and intentional operation" in response to Iranian aggression, including the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone operating over international waters, and confirmed the attacks were carried out May 30 and May 31.

The command added that the operation "rapidly eliminated" two Iranian kamikaze drones that had posed a clear threat to vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, along with an air defense system and above-ground control facilities.

CENTCOM also said the United States would continue to protect its assets and interests against unprovoked Iranian attacks during the truce, and said it had no intention of breaking the truce itself.

Earlier, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported May 29 that Iranian forces had shot down a US drone in the southern province of Bushehr.

Iranian media said the military fired a surface-to-air missile in southern Iran near the Strait of Hormuz to bring down the drone.

At the time, CENTCOM said on X that no US aircraft had been shot down and that all American aerial assets were accounted for.

Iran moved swiftly to announce retaliation following the US strikes.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced through Iranian state television that its air force had struck the air base from which the attacks originated, in response to recent US military strikes on a communications tower on Sirik Island in Hormozgan Province.

The target of the retaliation was believed to be a US Air Force base in Kuwait.

Kuwaiti authorities announced Sunday that they were intercepting drones and missiles using their air defense systems, according to the AP.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks on Kuwait.

The AP assessed that the strikes were most likely carried out by Iranian forces or Iran-backed Shiite militias operating out of Iraq.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com