US launches new strikes on Iran, targeting missile sites and boats | BBC News

The United States has launched what it is calling defensive strikes in southern Iran.The attacks on missile launch sites and Iranian mine -laying vessels come amid a fragile ceasefire between the two nations and attempts to reach a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.After the latest talks involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said a peace deal with Iran will take a few days, but is confident the Strait of Hormuz will reopen soon.

The straits have to be open.They're going to be open one way or the other.So they need to be open to what's happening there.It's unlawful.It's illegal.It's unsustainable for the world.

It's unacceptable.I don't know of any country in the world that the Russians are not in favor of a tolling system.The Chinese are not in favor of a tolling system.I mean, there's no country in the world that's in favor of a tolling system except for the regime in Iran.So that's not acceptable.That cannot happen.

The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls.

A North America correspondent, David Willis, says it's currently unclear how much the strikes might affect the fragile ceasefire and the ongoing peace talks.

In a rather terse three -line statement, U .S.Central Command makes the point that these were defensive strikes aimed at protecting U .S.forces on the ground.And the targets, they say, included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to place mines, as that statement puts it.

But the statement doesn't provide very much more in the way of detail, although there are unofficial reports that there were explosions heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas, which is overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, and also that two Iranian vessels were targeted that were thought to be planting minesin the Strait of Hormuz.So this is all part of what CENCOM is calling here an ongoing attempt to protect US forces in the region there whilst preserving the ceasefire agreement.Now, that ceasefire agreement has been in place for about six weeks now.There have been various infractions.Whether this development imperils that ceasefire remains to be seen, of course, at a time when negotiations are underway in the hope of getting a negotiated settlement to this conflict in Qatar.

negotiations in Qatar that you mentioned there.Marco Rubio is saying that an Iran deal is still possible within days, so there's still a lot of focus, a lot of attention on those negotiations and a lot of hope presumably.

That's right, although a lot of mixed messaging as we've become used to in the course of this conflict from this administration.Mark, President Trump making the point over the weekend that the two sides were close, as he put it, to reaching agreement, then saying that he was urging his people, his negotiators, to take their time.Marco Rubio saying earlier today that an agreement could be reached within the day itself before, as you put it, succinctly somewhat backing off that timeframe, saying it could take a matter of days because there was a lot of language to be finessed.We know that of the two sides, the United States is perhaps the most hungry for an agreement.President Trump has made no secret of his impatience in that regard.And of course, we have elections coming up in just over five months' time here, in which his Republican Party's majority is important.

David Willis there.