The U.S. bombed several Iranian targets Monday, breaking its own ceasefire in the process.American forces destroyed Iranian boats and missile launch sites, according to U.S. Central Command. The boats were reportedly attempting to lay more mines along the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman. But the timing of the attack could not have been worse, as Iranian officials had arrived in Qatar just hours earlier for talks to end the war.Iranian state media confirmed some of the attacks hit Bandar Abbas, an Iranian port city that is home to the country’s key naval and air bases. State media reported that explosions occurred in other cities, as well.CENTCOM characterized the strikes in southern Iran as defensive, saying they were intended “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”“Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing cease-fire,” CENTCOM spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement. Hawkins declined to elaborate on which ships were hit, where the targets were located, or where the other U.S. attacks took place.In a lengthy Truth Social post Monday morning, hours before the strikes, Trump declared that the U.S. and Iran would either broker a “great deal for all or, no deal at all.”“Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before,” the president warned.In another post, Trump said that his deal would be “the exact opposite” of the Iran deal brokered by former President Barack Obama, although he added that “nobody has seen it, or knows what it is.”Trump also noted that any potential deal to end the Iran war should come with a stipulation requiring Tehran to sign the Abraham Accords, normalizing diplomatic, economic, and security with Israel. Trump shared that he had spoken with the leaders of several Middle Eastern countries on Saturday, and opined that “it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum,” sign the Abraham Accords “simultaneously.”“Those Countries discussed are Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates (already a Member!), Qatar, Pakistan, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain (already a Member!),” Trump wrote.Tehran has said there will be no “retreat” in its fight against the United States. Trump’s first-term national security adviser John Bolton told CNN Monday that Iran had effectively played the White House by delaying the peace process.“I don’t think the president understands the fanaticism of what’s left of the regime and the people in power. He is somebody who has spent his whole life making deals with people. He thinks everybody wants to make a deal on just about anything. That’s not what these people are into,” Bolton said.“They can see that Trump is so palpably desperate to make a deal that he can declare to be a victory and that lowers prices of gasoline—and they’re playing him on that,” Bolton continued. “They’re stretching him out, they’re buying time. All of that works out in their advantage.”
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