A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer operates in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11, 2026. (Michael Hunnisett/U.S. Army)
U.S. Central Command struck missile targets and mine-laying boats in southern Iran late Monday, according to a statement from the command.
“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines,” CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes that evening. “U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”
The statement provided no further details.
The New York Times, citing Hawkins, reported the U.S. struck near Bandar Abbas, home of a large Iranian naval base near the Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes took place the same day President Donald Trump on Truth Social said peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are “proceeding nicely,” even as he warned fighting would resume if no deal were reached.
An Iranian delegation arrived that day in Qatar as part of the talks, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Trump wrote that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other countries in the region should sign on to the Abraham Accords as part of a peace deal with Iran. The accords, reached in 2020 during Trump’s first term and signed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and Kazakhstan, aimed to normalize their relations with Israel, according to the Middle East Institute’s website.
“It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be,” Trump wrote.