Iran says it struck US-linked base as talks stall amid tougher US demands

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday they had targeted a base used by United States forces, a claim that comes as diplomatic talks between Tehran and Washington face renewed strain after the United States carried out strikes on Iranian military sites.

What Iran and the US are saying

The Guards’ statement, broadcast by IRIB and other state media, said the base had been targeted, but did not specify its location.

The United States said on Sunday that it had struck Iranian radar and drone command-and-control sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. US Central Command said the strikes were in response to the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone.

Earlier, Kuwait’s military said its air defences were responding to a drone and missile attack.

Negotiations hit by tougher US terms

Diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz have been complicated by tougher demands from US President Donald Trump. Media reports said Trump had sent a “tougher” new framework back to Iran for consideration, though the details were not made public.

Trump told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview on her Fox News show that one of his priorities was stopping Iran from developing any nuclear weapon and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane.

Tehran signals distrust

On Sunday Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that the United States was not to be trusted and said Tehran would not approve any deal until it was certain “that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” according to a video broadcast on state television.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, according to state TV, that “until a clear conclusion is reached…everything that is being said now is speculation.” The Tasnim news agency reported that exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments.”

Sticking points and wider regional tensions

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme, and Iranian media described earlier US comments about destroying Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile as “baseless.”

Separately, a senior US official told AFP that the United States had proposed a sequence for advancing talks that would require Hezbollah to stop attacks on Israel first, with Israel refraining from escalation in Beirut in return. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had discussed the proposal with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The official also said that Lebanon’s speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri’s response to the proposal was “evasive and disappointing.” Hezbollah says Israel must cease hostilities first, the official added.

Lebanon’s health ministry has said Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,412 people since early March, with over a million others displaced, AFP reported.

What comes next

Negotiators remain divided on key issues, and any further tweaks to the draft proposal could delay an agreement to end the conflict and reopen shipping lanes. A separate meeting between Israel and Lebanon is scheduled to take place on June 2 and 3 in Washington, according to the AFP report.