Trump says – The exchange between Washington and Tehran escalated as Iran targeted a U.S. airbase in retaliation after the U.S. shot down four Iranian attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz. The White House denied Iranian state media claims of a completed draft peace agre
For a second night in three days, the administration is describing its moves as defensive. For Iran, the message is different: the strikes were followed by retaliation that reached a U.S. airbase.
Thursday, Iran targeted a U.S. airbase as retaliation, after the U.S. shot down four Iranian attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also targeted a ground control site in Bandar Abbas that was preparing to launch a fifth drone.
Iran said the U.S. attacks were a “blatant violation” of both an unstable ceasefire and international law, and it said it targeted the facility from which the U.S. strikes were coming. The U.S., however, has not confirmed whether there was an attack on a military base in the area.
The overnight strikes were the second time in three days that the U.S. has carried out what it says are defensive strikes.
While missiles and drones moved through the night, the political fight over what comes next is happening in daylight. The new exchange arrives as the White House pushes back on Iranian state media reports claiming a draft peace agreement has already been reached. The White House called those reports a “complete fabrication.”.
President Donald Trump, asked about negotiations, sounded unmoved by the pressure to strike a deal quickly. He said he’s in no rush.
“Their Navy is gone, as I’ve said a thousand times, their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone. Everything’s gone, and they’re negotiating on fumes. But we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don’t. 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.”.
The hardest part of any bargain remains the Strait of Hormuz itself. It has been effectively closed since late February, squeezing global shipping lanes and significantly impacting global oil prices. The fight over control and access continues alongside the strikes.
The U.S. has sanctioned Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the body created by Tehran to enforce shipping rules around the Strait of Hormuz.
At the same time, Trump has warned Oman not to attempt to assert control over the Strait. Iran declared its support for Oman, even as Trump said at a Cabinet meeting that Oman would be treated like any other actor.
“Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “They understand that. They’ll be fine.”
Oil markets are moving with every new escalation. Amid the new strikes in Iran, oil prices rose overnight, rising around 2% to $95 a barrel.
The overnight actions and the diplomatic denials are now running on parallel tracks: the White House rejecting claims of a finished draft agreement while Trump insists he can wait. and Iran responding to U.S. defensive strikes with its own counterattacks. In the gap between those two narratives—deal or delay—shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains the pressure point that could decide how quickly this cycle breaks. or how far it spreads.
Trump Iran U.S. airbase Strait of Hormuz Bandar Abbas attack drones Persian Gulf Strait Authority Oman sanctions peace deal oil prices