The US military carried out new strikes in Iran on Wednesday, targeting a site around the Strait of Hormuz that posed a threat to US forces and commercial traffic, according to a US official.
The US also shot down four Iranian attack drones that posed a threat, the official said.
US forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone. These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire, they added.
Three explosions were heard to the east of Bandar Abbas, a strategic Iranian port city and naval base near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported in the early hours of Thursday.
The blasts were reported at around 1:30 a.m. local time and caused the air defense systems of Bandar Abbas to be briefly activated, according to Fars, a media outlet with links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“The exact location and source of these sounds are still unknown, and follow-ups are continuing to determine them,” Fars reported.
Meantime Oil prices jumped about 2% in early Thursday trading after Reuters reported fresh U.S. strikes overnight on an Iranian military site, escalating tensions even as Washington and Tehran negotiate to end their three-month conflict.
Brent crude futures rose $1.90, or 2.02%, to $96.19 a barrel by 0015 GMT, while the more active August contract gained $1.64 or 1.78%, to $93.89. The July contract is set to expire on Friday.
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