Iran strikes US base as Trump urges patience during ongoing war

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed on Monday that it targeted a United States air base in retaliation for a US strike on Iranian military sites over the weekend. This latest exchange of violence occurs as diplomatic efforts to conclude the three-month-old war continue. President Donald Trump declared that the Islamic Republic "really wants to make a deal" and advised his critics to "sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!"

The US and Iran have sporadically traded strikes since the ceasefire took effect in early April as diplomacy aimed at a more durable agreement drags on. A similar exchange took place last Thursday and was described in near-identical terms by both sides. The weekend US strikes on Iran's Gulf coast were a response to "aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters," according to a post on X by US Central Command. CENTCOM stated that US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters. The command added it will continue to protect US assets and interests during the ongoing ceasefire.

Iran's IRGC said it targeted an air base used by the US without identifying which specific facility was hit. Air defences in Kuwait, where a major US base is located, intercepted missile and drone attacks on Monday as sirens sounded across the country, according to state news agency KUNA.

In a late night social media post shortly after 1am, President Trump did not mention the exchange of hostilities, repeating his claim that Iran "really wants to make a deal." He also criticized what he called "Dumocrats" and "seemingly unpatriotic Republicans," accusing political opponents of making it harder for him to navigate one of the most dangerous foreign policy crises of his presidency. Trump wrote, "Don't the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively 'chirping,' at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever." He concluded, "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!"

The war launched by the US and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices rose about 2 per cent in Asia on Monday as the lack of progress in negotiations kept traders on edge. Trump is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get US gasoline prices down ahead of the November congressional elections, as voters show increasing frustration over rising prices. At the same time, he faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party over any concessions to Tehran.

Trump has said his key aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran has consistently denied it has plans to do that. The two sides remain at odds on several other issues, such as Tehran's demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks. Israel's war in Lebanon with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia is another major impediment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and has proposed a plan to allow for "gradual de-escalation," a US official said. It came as Israeli troops captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon, in the deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter-century. The taking of Beaufort castle, near the city of Nabatiyeh, followed days of airstrikes and intense fighting in nearby villages between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants. Israel has continued striking near Tyre, including near the Hiram Hospital.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that thirteen medical staff members were injured during recent strikes.

Overnight, Hezbollah stated that they launched two separate attacks against Israeli forces and a Merkava tank in Bayada, a southwestern town near the border.

In the days leading up to this, the group announced clashes with Israeli troops in multiple locations just north of the river near Nabatiyeh and a strategic castle.

Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for assaults conducted deeper inside Israel, targeting areas around the northern cities of Haifa and Nahariya, along with other border zones.

On Saturday, the group fired rocket salvos into northern Israel, striking Kiryat Shmona, which stands as the largest city in that region.

The use of difficult-to-detect fiber optic drones by Hezbollah has proven deadly for the Israeli military, which is currently struggling to mount an effective response.

According to the Israeli military, there have been nearly 200 alerts issued to civilians across northern Israel within the past 24 hours regarding incoming drones and missiles.