MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

United States strikes southern Iran targets “in self-defense” amid Doha peace talks

Trump defended the peace negotiations on his Truth Social network in response to growing criticism from Republican sectors

The US Armed Forces struck military targets in southern Iran on Monday “in self-defense,” according to a statement by US Central Command, in an episode that coincides with the arrival of Iranian negotiators in Qatar for peace talks mediated by the Qatari government. The operation also overlaps with the order issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israeli army to “step on the accelerator” in its offensive against the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite parallel negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut.

“The targets included missile launch sites and Iranian vessels attempting to lay mines. We continue to defend our forces, while exercising restraint during the current ceasefire,” said Captain Tim Hawkins, spokesperson for the US Armed Forces Central Command. President Donald Trump defended the peace negotiations on his Truth Social network in response to growing criticism from Republican sectors. “The deal with Iran will either be magnificent or it will not be,” he wrote, describing his critics as “losers who do nothing but create division and losses.”

For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said his country had reached agreements with the United States on several issues, although he warned that this does not mean a definitive pact is imminent. The talks, mediated by Qatar, follow the previous rounds conducted by Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey over the past several weeks. The ceasefire between Washington and Tehran in force since 17 April has allowed the partial reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to merchant ship transit and a sustained decline in crude oil prices from the peaks reached during the intense phase of the conflict.

On the Lebanese front, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army to intensify bombardments against Hezbollah positions, in response to attacks with fiber-optic cable drones that the Shiite militia has launched against Israeli territory. These devices, undetectable by conventional air defense systems, have caused more than ten deaths among Israeli forces since the start of the 17 April truce. “We are at war with Hezbollah. We are not going to lift our foot off the accelerator. On the contrary, I have ordered the army to step on the accelerator even harder,” Netanyahu said in an official communiqué.

Political pressure on the Israeli prime minister comes from the most right-wing sectors of his coalition, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, alongside Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. The Israeli Armed Forces simultaneously communicated that they are “bombing Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bekaa Valley and in additional areas of Lebanon.”