US forces struck missile launch sites and what it said were boats attempting to lay mines in southern Iran on early Tuesday Kyiv time, as Iranian negotiators held talks with Qatari mediators in Doha amid a seven-week ceasefire between Tehran and Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a potential deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran could “take a few days,” as a series of strikes threatened an already fragile ceasefire and raised new questions about its durability.
The US Central Command said the strikes were carried out “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces” and described them as defensive, adding that they did not signal a breakdown of the ceasefire.
Iranian news website Tabnak said four members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were killed in the strikes on boats near Bandar Abbas, a city at the Strait of Hormuz. The city has a dual-use airport and is home to a military port.
The strikes were the second major attacks to take place during the seven-week ceasefire, and came as the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, led a delegation of negotiators to Qatar.
Speaking to reporters in Jaipur, India, on Tuesday, Rubio said that the Strait of Hormuz must be opened “one way or the other,” adding a deal was still within reach – but not imminent.
“There were some discussions occurring in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make headway. I believe it will require a few days,” Rubio said, according to Reuters.
Where negotiations stand
Both sides say progress has been made toward a peace deal that would formally end all hostilities and give negotiators 60 days to resolve complex issues and reach final deal points, including Iran’s nuclear program and the release of around $24 billion of Iranian assets.
CNN reported that half of that sum could be released when the deal is first announced. Tasnim, an Iranian news agency closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Sunday that “without the release of a specific portion of Iran’s blocked assets in this very first step – along with a clear mechanism for the guaranteed, continued release of all blocked assets – there will be no agreement.”
The framework deal is also expected to cover the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained blocked since the conflict began, driving up oil prices globally.
Trump issued Iran an ultimatum in early May to accept a deal or face intensified strikes, while a separate internal rift emerged within the White House over whether to continue with the attacks or pursue peaceful resolutions.
What this means for Ukraine
The US-Iran conflict has impacted Washington’s ability to broker peace in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky linked the pause in peace negotiations to the war in the Middle East, with Rubio himself confirming that the Ukraine peace talks have stalled and yielded no results. A deal with Iran could potentially shift the Trump’s administration’s efforts back to the Ukraine peace talks.
For the rest of the world and Europe, the stakes center on energy.
Roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained restricted since the conflict began on Feb. 28. Washington also extended Russian oil sanctions waivers in May, saying the decision followed requests from countries affected by surging oil prices, a move criticized by the EU as a blow to broader Western sanctions efforts.