US Military Launches ‘Self-Defence’ Strikes In Iran

Just as President Donald Trump claimed on social media that negotiations were "proceeding nicely," the U.S. military reported on Monday that it conducted "self-defence" attacks in southern Iran, including on missile launch facilities and boats placing mines.

According to a statement from U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins, the military was "using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," but the attacks were carried out "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces."

Earlier, Trump stated that any deal to put an end to the Iran War would require other nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to ratify the Abraham Accords, which were negotiated by the United States during Trump's first term with the goal of normalising relations with Israel.

The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favour a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations.

Along with Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan, Trump recommended that Saudi Arabia and Qatar join "immediately." In 2020, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first nations to sign up.

He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

Saudi Arabia has insisted that any normalisation agreement must first offer a clear path for Palestinian statehood, despite Trump's long-standing hopes that the country will join. For Pakistan, one of the nations without diplomatic ties to Israel, it is also crucial.

During Trump's first term, several diplomatic, economic, and security agreements were made with U.S. influence. These agreements were first made between Israel and Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, then Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan.

They were framed as an effort to promote cooperation among countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and the administration saw them as partly paving a path toward full ties with Israel.

It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords if an agreement is reached.