Iran fires missiles as Trump stalls two-month truce terms

Iran fires – Iran’s armed forces fired missiles at unidentified targets in southern Iran late Thursday, even as a White House official said the U.S. and Iran have “mostly agreed” on a 60-day memorandum that would extend a ceasefire and begin nuclear negotiations. Donald Tr

Late Thursday, Iranian armed forces fired missiles at unidentified targets in southern Iran—an escalation that landed just hours after the U.S. raised the alarm over Iran’s ballistic missile toward Kuwait and drones operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

The missile report came from the Iranian state media outlet Fars. It followed closely on the Pentagon’s assessment that Iran had launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait and deployed attack drones in and around the strait.

The timing matters because diplomatic movement was already being discussed. Earlier Thursday, a White House official confirmed an Axios report that the U.S. and Iran have “mostly agreed” to the terms of an agreement to temporarily end the three-month-old war. The reported framework is a 60-day memorandum of understanding that would extend an ongoing ceasefire and start nuclear negotiations.

But that same official said President Donald Trump has not yet given final approval to the memorandum of understanding. The deal, while seen as a possible off-ramp, is still contingent on Trump’s sign-off.

Trump’s indecision landed amid clear market optimism. Major stock indexes rose Thursday after the reported progress toward a temporary deal that could lead to the end of the three-month-old war.

Still, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not confirm that an agreement is on the table. When asked later Thursday if one was indeed in play, Bessent said: “The teams have been going back and forth.”

He also said Trump has “several red lines” for any agreement—whether in the short term or the long term. Those include demands that Iran turn over its highly enriched uranium and abandon its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Bessent also said the Strait of Hormuz must be free and open, as it was before the war.

Behind the scenes of negotiations, other actions suggested the pressure campaign is intensifying—and the ceasefire remains fragile.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on Iran’s “Persian Gulf Strait Authority. ” an agency Tehran launched earlier this month as it seeks to exert control over transit through the strait. Bessent later warned Oman—reported to be in talks with Iran about charging vessels transiting the key oil shipping route—not to allow a tolling system.

“Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized,” Bessent wrote in an X post Thursday morning.

The warning came a day after Trump, while insisting at a Cabinet meeting that the strait must remain unobstructed, said that “Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow ’em up.”

Bessent said during Thursday’s press briefing that he spoke to Oman’s ambassador by phone that morning and was told there were “no plans for tolling the strait.”

U.S. officials have described these steps as part of “Operation Economic Fury,” a push to squeeze Iran’s finances that they say has replaced the military campaign the administration calls “Operation Epic Fury.”

Bessent framed the new sanctions as part of that broader effort. On X Thursday morning. he called the “Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) … a joke” and wrote that Treasury has sanctioned it. He also said the U.S. has warned corporate or state entities against paying tolls or hiding them as aid payments.

Even with the diplomatic talks moving, force continued in the same waters that the ceasefire is meant to protect.

On Wednesday night, Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait that was “successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces,” according to U.S. Central Command. CENTCOM said the action was an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

Earlier the same day. CENTCOM said Iran launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz. It said all drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces and that U.S. defenses also prevented a sixth drone launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas.

Taken together, the sequence is stark: negotiations are being described as nearly aligned, but the region’s security picture keeps worsening by the hour.

Trump’s own comments Wednesday added another layer to the moment. At a Cabinet meeting, he insisted he feels no pressure to make a deal with Iran before the midterm elections more than five months away. “They’re getting clobbered. Their economy is in free fall,” Trump said of Iran.

He added: “They thought they were going to outwait me, you know. ‘We’ll outwait him, he’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms,” in remarks that signaled he does not see urgency as a decisive factor.

For now, the memorandum of understanding that would extend the ceasefire and open nuclear negotiations remains unfinished business. The U.S. side says the talks are advancing while still insisting on strict conditions—especially around highly enriched uranium and a free and open Strait of Hormuz.

And in the stretch of time between diplomatic language and presidential approval, Iran’s actions continue to test how real the ceasefire is in practice.

Iran United States Donald Trump ceasefire ballistic missile Kuwait drones Strait of Hormuz sanctions nuclear negotiations Scott Bessent Persian Gulf Strait Authority Oman tolling