US attacks Iranian coastal sites after Iran launches drones in latest flare-up

US Central Command said that its forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz.

DUBAI/WASHINGTON – US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on June 6 after shooting down drones launched by Iran towards the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest escalation complicating efforts to end the war between the two countries.

The US military believes the four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, a US official told Reuters.

US Central Command said on X that the US then struck Iran’s surveillance sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, which are both on the Strait of Hormuz.

The US and Iran have been engaged in largely indirect negotiations to secure an interim deal to halt the three-month-old war that would leave issues including Iran’s nuclear programme to further negotiations.

As part of any agreement, Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, the lifting of a US blockade on its ports and leverage over the strait.

Iran has effectively blocked the strait, where about a fifth of the world’s oil had transited before the war.

US President Donald Trump is facing mounting domestic political pressure due to rising gas prices to bring the unpopular war to an end.

He told NBC that while most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, the Iranians still have access to about a fifth of their missiles.

“They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say percentage wise, maybe 21 per cent to 22 per cent of their missiles.

“It is a lot of missiles, but it is not what it was when we first attacked,” Trump told NBC News’ Meet The Press programme, according to excerpts released by the network on June 5.

When asked why Iran’s leaders – if as desperate as he has portrayed them – were not more inclined to strike a deal, Trump said: “Because they are strong. They are proud. There are things they never thought they would be doing that they are going to have to do, they have got no choice, and it takes a little while.”

Israel and the US launched the war with strikes on Iran in late February.

In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, Iran-aligned armed group Hezbollah said on June 5 it had carried out two attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon, including near the recently captured Beaufort Castle, while Lebanese security services said Israeli air strikes hit towns across southern Lebanon.

Iran has reaffirmed support for Hezbollah while demanding that Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon. Tehran has made a c