US forces shot down two Iranian drones that were attempting to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, an American official said on Thursday.
“It appears Iran has attempted to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz tonight. US forces shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones. Traffic flow through the Strait continues,” the official said, NBC News reported.
No other details were provided on the targeted vessels or any damage resulting from the incident.
The reported attack came hours after US President Donald Trump said Washington was close to reaching an agreement with Iran on ending the war.
“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we’re going to be subject to finalisation of documents, which should get done over the next few days. We’ll probably have a signing, maybe in Europe,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump said the signing ceremony “could be soon, very soon, maybe over the weekend” and said Vice President JD Vance will represent the US, as well as special envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner.
Asked if Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has approved the deal to end the war, Trump said: “I understand the answer is yes”.
Trump said he spoke with some regional partners who helped broker the agreement and said he would speak with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom he said was “great” in helping to end the war.
Iran, meanwhile, has said that while Tehran had agreed to much of the draft text of a potential deal with the US, there were still some “red lines” that need to be sorted.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had made clear it would not accept what he described as “illegitimate” demands during indirect contacts with the US.
“The main part of the text of understanding has been finalised,” Baghaei said, adding that Washington’s “contradictory positions” are disrupting the process.
He said the US had in recent days attempted to impose “unusual demands” on Tehran, but Iran showed it would “never surrender to illegitimate conditions.”- AA
