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US Launches New Strikes on Iran Targeting Missile Sites and Boats
Published: 26 May 2026 | Source: US Central Command, US State Department, Iranian Foreign Ministry, CBS News, New York Times
WASHINGTON — The US launches new strikes on Iran targeting missile sites and boats attempting to place mines near Bandar Abbas, US Central Command confirmed on Monday, describing the operation as “self-defense” designed to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces” during the ongoing ceasefire. The strikes came on the same day Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the Strait of Hormuz would reopen “one way or the other,” and President Donald Trump demanded Iran’s enriched uranium be turned over to the US or “destroyed in place.” Iran’s foreign ministry said a deal to end the war “is not imminent,” despite progress on a large portion of the issues under discussion.
What Was Struck
Centcom spokesperson Capt Tim Hawkins said the strikes targeted an area near Bandar Abbas, a southern port city and home to an Iranian naval base that sits on the Strait of Hormuz, according to the New York Times New York Times report on Bandar Abbas strikes, 26 May 2026. The targets included Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to place mines.
“The US military continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins said in a statement US Central Command statement, 26 May 2026.
Iranian state media reported that local officials in Bandar Abbas were investigating after explosions were heard in the area. Iran has not yet formally responded to the strikes.
The strikes are the latest in a series of military actions that have continued despite a ceasefire in place since 8 April. Earlier in May, a clash between Iranian and US naval destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz led Trump to insist the truce was still in place.
US-Iran naval clash in the Strait of Hormuz: what happened and what it means
The Diplomatic Track
Hours after the strikes, Rubio told reporters during an official visit to India that a deal remained possible and pointed to talks scheduled for Tuesday between Iran’s top negotiator and foreign minister and Qatar’s prime minister.
“We’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Rubio said US State Department press briefing, 26 May 2026.
Rubio said Trump had “expressed his desire to make it. He’s either going to make a good deal or no deal.”
On the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio used his strongest language yet: “What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable. The straits have to be open. They’re going to be open one way or the other.”
The memorandum of understanding reportedly involves a 60-day ceasefire extension, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for further negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai said: “It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion… But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent, no one can make such a claim” Iranian Foreign Ministry statement, 26 May 2026.
The Iran deal framework, what’s in the 60-day memorandum of understanding
The Nuclear Demand
Trump added a new demand on Monday night, saying Iran’s enriched uranium would either be “immediately” turned over to the US, or “preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place.”
At the start of the war, Iran is thought to have held about 440kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade 90%. The status of that stockpile remains one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations.
CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, has reported that US intelligence believes Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, injured in the Israeli strike that killed his father on the war’s first day, is holed up in an undisclosed location, making communication with his envoys difficult and slowing the pace of talks CBS News report on Khamenei, 26 May 2026.
The nuclear file and the enrichment gap that the 60-day framework postpones
The Dual-Track Strategy
The strikes near Bandar Abbas and the diplomatic push through Doha represent parallel tracks. The US is negotiating the language of a memorandum of understanding while simultaneously degrading Iranian military assets near the very waterway the deal is supposed to reopen.
According to US media, the memorandum would not immediately lead to a final settlement. Contentious issues, including the scope of sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian funds, and Iran’s nuclear ambitions, would be negotiated later.
The dual track is a hedge: the memorandum promises peace, while the strikes serve as a safeguard against its failure. But the Iranian response’s silence on the strikes and caution on the deal suggest Tehran is still calibrating how to read the American approach.
Written by the Foreign Desk, drawing on US Central Command statements, State Department briefings, Iranian Foreign Ministry statements, CBS News intelligence reporting, and New York Times operational details. The desk has covered every phase of the US-Iran conflict since the 28 February airstrikes.