US strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island as IRGC claims downing of two more US MQM-170 drones

The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East. CENTCOM did not respond to requests for comment. Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media outlet IRNA reported that there were several explosions on Qeshm Island.

The. Journalreported that the attack was the latest in a series of strikes carried out by Washington in recent weeks. Fox News, citing officials, said the strikes were defensive and carried out in response to Iran firing at a US aircraft.

Iran’s state news agencyIRNAreported five explosions on Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz. Separately, the semi-official. Fars newsagency said explosions were heard coming from the direction of the sea in Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province.

The cause of the explosions was not immediately known. Neither agency provided details on casualties or damage. The reports come amid continued diplomatic efforts between Tehran and Washington over tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday that the two countries were continuing to exchange messages through mediators. He confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi had visited Doha to facilitate the exchanges through Qatari mediation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it downed 2 US drones in Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Monday that it downed two US drones south of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, -official.

Tasnim newsagency. The report said the IRGC Aerospace Force used electronic warfare systems against the two MQM-170 drones, bringing the number of aircraft of that type reportedly captured by Iranian forces to four. Tasnimsaid the operation had prevented the drones from completing their missions.

It provided no other operational details. The report follows two similar Iranian announcements last week. On Friday, theIRNAnews agency reported that the IRGC Aerospace Force downed an MQM-170 drone over Qeshm Island using electronic warfare systems.

On Thursday, the IRGC Navy said it had seized control of another drone of the same type in the western Strait of Hormuz and landed it intact. The US military rejected Iran’s account of Thursday’s incident.

The latest report comes amid ongoing indirect diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington. US, Iran have made progress toward negotiated settlement: VanceUS Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that Washington has made “progress” in talks with Iran, saying he and President Donald Trump feel “pretty good” about reaching a negotiated settlement.

“I actually just spoke with the president of the United States about an hour ago about this,” Vance. “Look, the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement.

We’re going to keep on working at it.”“The Iranians are always a little unpredictable, and as the president always says, he retains kinetic options. He retains non-kinetic options, but we’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more,” he said.

Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, Vance said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.”“Having destroyed their nuclear program, we want to make sure they don’t rebuild it or try to rebuild it. That’s what matters most to the United States,” he said.

“We do think that there is a pathway there, but it really does require a firm commitment and a verifiable commitment that they don’t rebuild that nuclear program,” he added.

Vance's remarks came hours after Trump said at the reopening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington that Iran wants to make a deal to end the conflict, now in its ninth month. “They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” Trump said, adding that Iran had asked Washington to stop targeting its leaders, “and we will.”