The U.S. bombed Iranian targets on Monday, including missile launch sites and boats trying to lay mines, U.S. Central Command said.

CentCom claimed the boats were laying mines in the Strait og Hormuz, which Iran closed shortly after the U.S. and Israel started bombing the country. A ceasefire agreement was implemented last month, though occasional fire has been exchanged.

The latest strikes came just hours after Iranian negotiators arrived in Qatar, The New York Times reported, stating:

Hours after Iranian negotiators arrived in Qatar for talks on ending the war, U.S. forces struck missile launch sites in Iran and boats trying to emplace mines, American officials said Monday night.

U.S. Central Command characterized the strikes in southern Iran as defensive and said they had been intended “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

“Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing cease-fire,” Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesman, said in a statement.

The Times noted that the bombings come as Israel is planning to escalate its war on Lebanon. Iran has insisted that any ceasefire include Lebanon, which Israel invaded in April.

President Donald Trump has claimed the U.S. and Iran are nearing a deal, but Iranian officials have said that no deal is imminent. The two biggest points of contention are the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear material, which remains under rubble after the U.S. and Israel bombed nuclear sites last June. Publicly, Trump officials have insisted Iran was on the verge of making nuclear weapons, even though U.S. intelligence officials concluded that Iran was not close to doing so.

On Monday, Trump issued a lengthy Truth Social post, saying he had spoken with leaders of several countries and stipulated that any deal to end the Iran war should require them to sign the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and a handful of Middle Eastern countries.

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