U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a presentation with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office of the White House on May 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | AFP | Getty Images
Iranian forces fired a missile at an unidentified target late Thursday local time, state media Fars news agency reported.
The latest military action in southern Iran came hours after the Pentagon announced that Iran had fired a ballistic missile toward Kuwait and deployed attack drones in and around the strait.
Earlier on Thursday, White House officials confirmed an Axios report that the United States and Iran had “nearly agreed” on the terms of a deal that would temporarily end the three-month war.
However, President Donald Trump has not yet given final approval to the 60-day memorandum of understanding extending the ongoing ceasefire and starting nuclear negotiations, the official said.
Axios reported that American officials said Iran had signed the deal, but noted that the Iranian government had not confirmed it.
Major stock indexes rose on Thursday after reports of progress towards an interim deal that could end the three-month war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred late Thursday when asked if a deal with Iran was really on the table.
“Teams are going back and forth,” Bessent said at a White House press briefing.
Bessent said Trump has “some red lines” to any agreement, short-term or long-term.
These include calls for Iran to hand over highly enriched uranium and abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Bessent also said the Strait of Hormuz must remain as free and open as it was before the war.
The apparent progress in diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran, and the corresponding optimism in markets, contrasted with many signs of rising tensions in the region.
The US Treasury announced on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on Iran’s Persian Gulf Straits Authority. The authority was launched by Tehran earlier this month and works to control passage through the strait.
Bessent then warned Oman, which is reportedly in talks with Iran about tolling ships passing through the vital oil shipping route, against allowing a tolling system on its waterways.
“Oman in particular should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any party directly or indirectly involved in facilitating the Strait Toll, and willing partners will be penalized,” Bessent wrote in the X-Post Thursday morning.
The post came a day after President Trump told a cabinet meeting that “Oman will do what other countries do, or we will have to blow it up,” while insisting there is no obstruction to the strait.
Bessent told a news conference on Thursday that the Omani ambassador had made it clear in a phone call that morning that there were “no plans to impose a toll on the strait.”
The sanctions announced Wednesday are part of “Operation Economic Fury,” the Trump administration’s effort to strain Iran’s finances, which U.S. officials say supersede the country’s military operation called “Operation Epic Fury.”
“Iran’s Persian Gulf Straits Authority (PGSA) is a joke and the Treasury Department sanctioned it today,” Bessent told X Thursday morning ahead of a post criticizing Oman. “We have warned all businesses and state organizations not to pay tolls or hide them as aid.”
Meanwhile, Iran and the United States continue to use force in the strait, further undermining the fragile ceasefire that is still nominally in effect.
U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday night that Iran “launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait, which was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces,” calling the action a “gross violation of the ceasefire.”
The attack occurred “several hours after the Iranian military launched five unidirectional attack drones posing a clear threat to the Strait of Hormuz and its vicinity,” CENTCOM said on XPost. “All drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces, and a sixth drone launch from Iran’s ground control base in Bandar Abbas was also thwarted.”
The latest military and economic actions followed President Trump’s assertion on Wednesday that he felt no pressure to strike a deal with Iran before the midterm elections, which are more than five months away.
“They’re being destroyed. Their economy is in free fall,” President Trump said of Iran at a cabinet meeting.
“They thought they were going to outdo me. You know, we’re going to outdo him, he’s got midterm elections. I don’t care about midterm elections,” Trump said.
This is developing news. Please check back for the latest information.
