US President Donald Trump said American forces struck an air defense system near Iran's Qeshm Island, claiming it took no more than 15 minutes to take the target out, infohub.kz reports.
"We make small strikes, but they take out targets. They (the Iranians — ed.) built a small air defense system, and we took it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five," he told reporters.
A series of explosions was reported on the island in southern Iran overnight into Saturday. State broadcaster IRIB later said air defense forces had destroyed a US MQ-9 Reaper drone in the area.
In mid-June, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum meant to launch a peace process. Three weeks later, however, strikes resumed. The sides have since been trying to settle the situation, but disagreements have so far prevented a breakthrough.
In late September, Iran handed the United States proposals including a seven-day plan to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting a naval blockade and export restrictions. Trump rejected it. On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the estimated timeframe for the plan had since been cut to two days, and that everything now depended on the US response.
Earlier reports said US forces had attacked Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran is suspected of storing ballistic missiles.
It is worth recalling that a month ago Donald Trump said the conflict with Iran would be settled in the near future, as the country no longer poses a nuclear threat to the United States.