The United States and Iran on Thursday exchanged fire in the most serious violations of their month-long ceasefire, but Washington downplayed the incident while Tehran said the situation had soon returned to normal.
The renewed hostilities broke out as the world awaits Iran’s response to a U.S. proposal for a permanent end to the conflict that began on Feb. 28 after joint Israel-U.S. airstrikes struck Tehran. According to U.S. media, the latest proposal seeks an immediate halt to the fighting but defers for further discussion contentious issues such as Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s military claimed Thursday’s clash resulted from the U.S. targeting two ships entering the Strait of Hormuz and carrying out strikes on Iranian territory. The U.S. military, however, said it fired in response to Iranian attacks.
In a brief exchange with journalists, Trump downplayed the incident and maintained the ceasefire remained intact. “They trifled with us today. We blew them away,” he said.
Iran’s top joint military command, however, has accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and of carrying out air attacks on civilian areas on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the nearby coastal areas of Bandar Khamir and Sirik on the mainland. The military said it retaliated by attacking U.S. military vessels east of the strait and south of the port of Chabahar.
Iran further claimed its strikes inflicted “significant damage,” but U.S. Central Command said none of its assets were hit. “CENTCOM does not seek escalation but remains positioned and ready to protect American forces,” it said in a statement. Iran said it would respond if attacked, but state media said the situation had returned to normal after several hours of fire.
Negotiations ongoing
During his press interaction, Trump said talks with Iran were ongoing despite Thursday’s clash. He maintained that Tehran had accepted his demand that Iran could never get a nuclear weapon. “There’s zero chance. And they know that, and they’ve agreed to that. Let’s see if they are willing to sign it,” he added.
To a question on when he expected a final deal, the U.S. president said it “might not happen” or could “happen any day.” He also praised Pakistan, adding it had asked U.S. to halt Project Freedom. “Pakistan has been fantastic. Their leaders have been fantastic; the field marshal and the prime minister,” he said. “We’ll go back to it if we have to. They asked us not to do it during the negotiations,” he added.