Washington/Tehran: Iran launched more missiles at U.S. allies Thursday and said at least 14 people were killed in US airstrikes over the last two days of escalating tit-for-tat strikes, sparked by Iranian attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
The funeral procession for Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took place on Thursday. He was later buried in the northeast city of Mashhad. Khamenei was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
President Trump said Wednesday that Iran “wants to make a deal so badly,” but while he said he would let talks continue, there has been no sign of ongoing diplomacy, and he’s also threatened “much worse” strikes if Iran attacks ships again.
A U.S. official told CBS News on Thursday that President Trump views the Iranian strikes earlier this week on three commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as acts of terrorism.
The U.S. official said the 60-day ceasefire signed last month between the U.S. and Iran is performance-based, and Iran’s actions in those strikes “failed performance at an unacceptable level.”
According to the U.S. official, however, “technical talks” between the two sides are continuing. When asked about the ceasefire on Wednesday, Trump had said that “as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.” ” The president also said peace negotiations would continue, claiming that Iran ‘wants to make a deal so badly.”
The U.S. official also reaffirmed Thursday the U.S. position that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. military reiterated Thursday that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post, U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said that since early May, U.S. forces have helped more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil transit the strait.
The declaration comes after the U.S. said Iran struck three commercial tankers in the strait earlier this week, reigniting fighting between the two sides amid what has been a shaky ceasefire.
The maritime journal Lloyd’s List found Thursday that strait traffic has “fallen sharply” since the two sides began exchanging strikes Tuesday.
The Iranian government said the eldest son of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of the Iran war, oversaw his father’s funeral services Thursday as he was laid to rest.
Mostafa Hosseini Khamenei led the funeral prayer, the Iranian government said in an X post.
The second son of Khamenei, Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, was named new supreme leader of Iran in March, but he has not been seen in public since before the war.
