A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer operates in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11, 2026. (Michael Hunnisett/U.S. Army)
The U.S. and Iran remained in a fragile ceasefire Tuesday after an outbreak of hostilities and renewed threats rattled efforts to secure a broader peace agreement.
U.S. forces conducted “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran late Monday, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian boats that were attempting to place mines, according to a spokesman for U.S. Central Command.
But the spokesman, Capt. Tim Hawkins, told Stars and Stripes that the U.S. military has continued “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” which has faced repeated flare-ups since it was reached nearly seven weeks ago.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Iran responded to the latest U.S. strikes by launching surface-to-air missiles at U.S. planes. That prompted additional American attacks on missile launchers near Bandar Abbas, home to a large Iranian naval base near the Strait of Hormuz, the report said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the start of the war, issued fresh threats against the United States on Tuesday. According to statements carried by Iranian state media, Khamenei warned that the U.S. would no longer have “a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases” in the Middle East and urged Muslim countries to stop serving as “shields for U.S. bases.”
President Donald Trump on Monday said U.S.-Iran negotiations were “proceeding nicely,” even as he warned fighting would resume if no deal was reached.
Iranian negotiators traveled to Qatar for peace talks Monday. U.S. officials have said that a final agreement may take a few more days.
According to multiple reports, the talks aim to secure an interim deal that would extend the ceasefire and lead to the resumption of commercial shipping while negotiations continue on more difficult issues.
The U.S. and Iran appear to disagree in many areas, including the future of Iran’s uranium stockpile and control of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital maritime trade route that typically accounts for nearly a fifth of the global oil supply.
Iran has severely restricted commercial shipping through the strait since the war began in late February, driving up global fuel prices. Tehran argues that it has the right to charge fees for passing vessels, though such a system would likely violate international maritime law.
Speaking to reporters on a trip to India, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington will not accept such an arrangement.
“There’s no country in the world that’s in favor of a tolling system except the regime in Iran. So that’s not acceptable; that cannot happen. The straits need to be open, unimpeded, without tolls,” he said Tuesday.
Ebrahim Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the U.S. needs to take “confidence-building” measures for the talks to proceed, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Those demands include an end to fighting, particularly in Lebanon — where Israel recently intensified attacks on Hezbollah — along with guarantees against another war, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade, relief from oil sanctions and the release of frozen Iranian assets. Iran also wants acceptance of its terms for the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump has insisted Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and has suggested that the U.S. take control of Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a final deal.
In a Monday social media post, Trump also said that several Middle Eastern countries should join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements aimed at normalizing regional ties with Israel, though it was not clear whether any countries were prepared to make such a commitment.
“It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted, but most should be ready, willing, and able to make this Settlement with Iran a far more Historic Event than it would, otherwise, be,” Trump wrote.
Rubio on Tuesday said he believes there’s strong alignment between leaders in the region on the contours of a preliminary deal with Iran, but that it may take several days to settle disagreements over wording.
“It’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one,” he said.
