U.S. and Iran in fresh clashes as peace talks stall
· Axios
U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged strikes Tuesday as peace talks remained stalled and tensions escalated across the Middle East.
The big picture: The confrontation widened beyond direct exchanges, with U.S. forces intercepting Iranian missiles and drones and striking targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
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Driving the news: The U.S. military shot down "multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones" and "conducted self-defense strikes" on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz "in response to attempted attacks by Iran across the Middle East," per a U.S. Central Command statement.
- "Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart en route, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by U.S. and Bahrain air defense forces."
- CENTCOM said in an earlier statement Tuesday that American forces had "disabled an unladen oil tanker" that was attempting to break through the U.S. blockade and sail toward an Iranian port in the Persian Gulf.
- The Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie's crew "ignored repeated warnings," so U.S. forces fired a Hellfire missile into the ship's engine room, "preventing the tanker from reaching Iran," CENTCOM said.
What they're saying: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Telegram the strikes were in response to CENTCOM's action on the tanker.
- The IRGC claimed its forces attacked the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a U.S. air base in the region with missiles and drones. CENTCOM said on X the claim was false.
- "All Iranian attacks on American forces failed," CENTCOM said.
Zoom out: Despite the clashes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his first congressional appearance since the start of the war expressed hope Tuesday that a deal could be reached with Tehran.
- "They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention," Rubio told a Senate hearing.
- "It is not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that's acceptable to the Senate or acceptable to the American people," he added. "But we'll be able to engage them in a process to truly test the proposition of how far they're willing to go."
State of play: Rubio's comments came after Tehran threatened to abandon peace talks Monday over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to bomb Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Go deeper: "You're fucking crazy": Trump fumes at Netanyahu in call on Lebanon
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.