Agencies | Washington:
As high-stakes negotiations continue in Doha aimed at ending the wider West Asia conflict, two major military escalations involving the United States and Israel are threatening to complicate — and potentially derail — fragile ceasefire efforts taking shape behind closed doors.
The first escalation unfolded in southern Iran, where US forces carried out what officials described as “self-defence strikes” against Iranian military targets near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
According to United States Central Command spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins, the operation targeted missile launch sites and Iranian vessels allegedly attempting to deploy naval mines in the crucial waterway, through which a significant share of the world’s oil supply passes daily.
“The operation was executed to protect American troops from imminent threats posed by Iranian forces,” Hawkins told Fox News.
Citing a senior US official, Fox News reported that two boats linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were intercepted while allegedly laying naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz. US forces reportedly destroyed both vessels and also struck a surface-to-air missile site in Bandar Abbas that was allegedly targeting American aircraft.
Sources familiar with the matter described the strikes as “defensive” and stressed that they do not necessarily signal the collapse of ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran. Iranian media outlets have also reported casualties linked to the operation, though official figures remain unclear.
A second flashpoint emerged in Lebanon, where Israel sharply intensified strikes on Hezbollah positions in the south of the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to accelerate operations in an effort to “crush” the Iran-backed militant group.
“I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations,” Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on Telegram.
The escalation comes at a particularly sensitive moment as the United States and Iran attempt to finalise the framework of a broader regional agreement that could also address the Lebanon front, where Israel and Hezbollah have remained locked in conflict since March 2.
Although a ceasefire officially came into effect on April 17, near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have continued, keeping tensions elevated despite ongoing diplomatic efforts.
Neither Iran nor Qatari mediators have officially commented on the latest military developments.
What’s Happening in the Doha Talks?
Senior Iranian officials — including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati — are currently in Doha for what is being described as one of the most consequential negotiation rounds since the conflict began.
According to Al Jazeera, citing an informed source, Washington and Tehran have already reached a preliminary understanding — mediated by Qatar — regarding Iran’s frozen overseas assets, one of Tehran’s key demands during the negotiations.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump hinted at a possible breakthrough on another major sticking point: Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the enriched uranium — which he referred to as “Nuclear Dust!” — could either be handed over to the United States for destruction or dismantled inside Iran under international supervision.
The remarks are being viewed as significant because they appear to signal a possible softening in Washington’s stance on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Earlier US proposals largely centred on removing enriched uranium entirely from Iranian territory. Trump’s latest comments, however, suggest the material could instead be destroyed inside Iran under a monitored international mechanism — a position far closer to Tehran’s long-standing demands.
For now, diplomatic observers are closely watching whether the Doha negotiations can withstand the latest military escalations or whether the fragile momentum toward a broader regional settlement begins to unravel.
