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By Anna Commander and Hugh Cameron
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The United States conducted "self-defense" strikes in southern Iran on Monday, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian vessels trying to establish mines, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
In a statement to Newsweek, Captain Tim Hawkins, CENTCOM spokesman, said, "U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines.
"U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," the statement concluded.
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Iran Warns It ‘Does Not Bow’ to U.S. Pressure
The strikes come as President Donald Trump said Monday on Truth Social that negotiations with Iran are "proceeding nicely!"
Trump added in part, "It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all—Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before—And nobody wants that!" He also said that certain countries in the Middle East should "sign onto the Abraham Accords," citing work done by the United States "to try and pull this very complex puzzle together."
The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements signed in 2020 to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Brokered by Trump's first administration, the accords focused on improving diplomatic, economic and security ties in the Middle East.
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, posted on X Monday, saying in a translated post: "During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action.
"Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans. If they want an agreement, they should negotiate; if they want $6 gas, they should stand firm and bluff until the grass grows under their feet. Iran does not bow to force or threats."
Trump said Saturday a deal to end the war had been "largely negotiated," adding that final aspects of an agreement are under discussion. "In addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened," Trump said in his post in part.
Expert Casts Doubt on Trump’s Regional Strategy
Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of International Relations at the City College of New York, told Newsweek on Monday night that "If we have, as the president claims, destroyed Iran’s military power entirely, then it’s strange that we are now fighting in self-defense.
"On the Abraham Accords: there is next to no chance that Saudi Arabia or Qatar will join, especially after what’s happened in Gaza. The president’s invitation—and this is a surmise on my part—has to do with the alarm created in Israel, and among Israeli strongest supporters here, by the deal that he is negotiating with Iran, assuming there is a deal.
"If the Saudis and Qataris joined the Accords, the president could point to that as proof of his commitment to Israel’s security. But as I said, they will not sign on."
Escalation Risks Another Gas Price Spike
Amid the ongoing war in Iran, Americans have felt the strain at home at the gas pump, but prices had recently been dipping on hopes that an agreement was in the pipeline.
According to AAA data on Monday, the current national average for regular gasoline was $4.507 per gallon, which fell to $4.49 on Tuesday.
But Brent crude—the international benchmark—inched up on Tuesday morning following the U.S. attacks on missile launch sites, and analysts believe should this scupper an agreement, gas prices could be in for another surge.
According to Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy, average gas prices declined in the vast majority of states in the lead-up to Memorial Day. However, he wrote on X that "until we see an agreement signed and a significant amount of ships transit through the Strait, the national average price of gasoline will likely remain well above $4/gal."
Last week, De Haan warned that if current progress in negotiations doesn’t “translate into a reopening of the Strait, prices will likely surge again next week.”
“If no deal pans out, oil could spike next week,” he wrote in a separate post.
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Administration's Negotiating Stance Draws Pushback
Trump has repeatedly said that his goal is for Iran not to have a nuclear weapon. While overseas in India over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed those words, saying in part that "the idea that somehow this president, given everything he's already proven he's willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd. That's just not going to happen. But our preference is to address this through a diplomatic means. And that's what we're endeavoring to do here."
And reported aspects of the draft agreement include an extended ceasefire and suggest the U.S. and Iran may agree to end the war without immediately addressing Tehran’s nuclear capabilities, drawing criticism from former Cabinet officials and members of Trump's party.
John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, said on X Sunday: "The ceasefire in Iran has only benefited the regime. It’s enabled the regime to pick itself up off the ground and start to rebuild its arsenal. We will look back on this lengthy ceasefire and come to realize it was a mistake."
And former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a Republican, has condemned the reported parameters of the draft peace deal, arguing the framework fails to align with an "America First" foreign policy, claiming it mirrors the 2015 Barack Obama-era nuclear accord—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—from which Trump withdrew during his first term in office.
“The rumored 60-day ceasefire—with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith—would be a disaster," GOP Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, posted on X on Saturday.
"Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the war’s most vocal advocates, likewise warned that such an agreement could lead to a “major shift of the balance of power in the region and over time will be a nightmare for Israel.”
Trump, however, has asserted that the deal currently under negotiation is "the exact opposite" of the 2015 agreement, but has told the U.S. negotiating side "not to rush" into a deal with Tehran.
Update 5/26/26 6:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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