The US military carried out defensive strikes this Monday, May 25, 2026 near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, targeting missile sites after coastal explosions. This renewed tension occurs in the middle of the ceasefire declared seven weeks ago, while Washington and Tehran are negotiating a peace agreement. We take stock of the situation.
Explosions were heard in Iran in coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, the official Iranian press reported Monday evening, without being able to specify their origin, the Mehr press agency however declaring that the situation was under control and without cause for concern.
The US military’s Central Command later said the US military carried out defensive strikes in southern Iran, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian ships attempting to lay mines, while expressing its willingness to demonstrate “restraint” as part of the truce announced almost seven weeks ago. Earlier this month, similar clashes occurred between the two camps near the Strait of Hormuz, de facto blocked by Tehran and to which Washington responded with its own maritime blockade on the sidelines of the temporary ceasefire, without then provoking a resumption of hostilities on a large scale.
Towards an agreement?
These American strikes come after Tehran reported earlier on Monday progress in discussions intended to end the conflict, triggered on February 28 by American-Israeli bombings in Iran. Donald Trump declared on Sunday that there was no urgency to seal an agreement, after having assured the day before that a memorandum of understanding with Iran was almost entirely negotiated. “The deal will either be excellent and meaningful, or there will be no deal”said the American president on Monday. The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that discussions had concluded on many points of a possible memorandum of understanding with the United States. This does not mean, however, that Iran is about to sign, added Esmaeil Baghaei.
“Time is on our side”
Tehran is negotiating to end the conflict but is not currently discussing its nuclear program, he also said. The issue of Iran’s nuclear program is among the main sticking points between the two camps, as is Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon and Iranian demands for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets. “Time is on our side”Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on Sunday, saying he was maintaining the blockade of Iranian ports, while rising fuel prices in the United States due to the conflict are weighing on his popularity ahead of the midterm elections in Congress (“midterms”) next November. The American president repeats that he wants a guarantee that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon; Tehran has long denied having such an ambition.
