US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on Saturday after shooting down four Iranian drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest flare-up of the three-month-old war as Washington and Tehran continue indirect talks on an interim deal.
US Central Command said on X that American forces had struck surveillance sites at Goruk and Qeshm Island, both on the Strait of Hormuz, after determining that the four drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, Reuters reported. The exchanges were carried by Ada Derana on Saturday morning.
The latest strikes come as US and Iranian negotiators remain in largely indirect talks brokered through Pakistan aimed at securing an interim halt to the war, leaving Iran’s nuclear programme to further negotiations. Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in frozen oil revenue, waivers on crude export sanctions, the lifting of a US blockade on its ports, and leverage over the strait — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil moved before Iran effectively closed it 14 weeks ago.
President Donald Trump, who is facing mounting domestic political pressure over rising US gasoline prices, told NBC’s Meet the Press that most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed but that Iran still had access to “about 21 to 22 percent” of its missile stockpile. Asked why Iranian leaders had not yet struck a deal despite the damage, Trump told the network: “Because they are strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do, they’ve got no choice, and it takes a little while.” The full interview was due to air on Sunday.
Israel and the United States launched the war with strikes on Iran in late February. Tehran has made a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah in southern Lebanon a precondition for any peace deal with Washington and for restarting Hormuz traffic. Hezbollah said on Friday it had carried out two attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon, including near the recently captured Beaufort Castle, while Lebanese security services reported Israeli airstrikes across the south. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem this week rejected a US-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting, citing the absence of an Israeli withdrawal.
The Hormuz closure remains the central economic transmission channel for Sri Lanka, which imports virtually all of its fuel. Fitch Ratings on Saturday revised its 2026 Brent crude assumption to $87 per barrel on the assumption the strait will not start to reopen until July, and the World Food Programme warned the same day that an additional 1.3 million Sri Lankans were being pushed into food insecurity as a result of the conflict.
Sources: Ada Derana.
