U.S. Military carries out ‘self-defence’ strikes in Iran, including on missile launch sites

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - May 26, 2026 06:34 am IST - Washington Earlier President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations were “proceeding nicely”. | Photo Credit: Reuters The U.S. military said it carried out “self-defence” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations were “proceeding nicely”. The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”, but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire”, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement on Monday (May 25, 2026). Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations. Earlier, Mr. Trump said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump's first term aimed at normalising relations with Israel. The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favour a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations. Mr. Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on, alongside Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020. He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords”. Mr. Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join, but the kingdom has maintained that any normalisation deal requires first establishing a clear path for Palestinian statehood. That's also key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan's position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump's latest proposal. The President said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday (May 23, 2026). He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognise Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognised Israel in 1949. Masood Khan, Pakistan's former Ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how workable the proposal might be for the countries on Mr. Trump's list. “The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether new dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favourable deal. Still, Mr. Khan said, “the diplomatic track is still working, and I believe Pakistan is very much at the center of it, supported by regional countries”. It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Mr. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached. The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump's first term, originally between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan. They were framed as an effort to promote cooperation among countries in West Asia and North Africa, and the administration saw them as partly paving a path toward full ties with Israel. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do

U.S. Military carries out ‘self-defence’ strikes in Iran, including on missile launch sites

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U.S. Military carries out ‘self-defence’ strikes in Iran, including on missile launch sites

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