DEVELOPING STORY,

US Central Command announces ‘self-defence’ strikes as Tehran’s top negotiators gather in Qatar for peace talks.

The United States has launched strikes on targets in southern Iran, the US military has said, as Tehran’s top negotiators gather in Qatar for talks aimed at reaching a peace deal with Washington.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it carried out the “self-defence strikes” to protect US troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.

“Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines,” Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a CENTCOM spokesperson, said in a statement to Al Jazeera late on Monday.

“US Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”

CENTCOM did not provide further details on the strikes.

The latest attacks come despite there being a ceasefire officially in place between the US and Iran since April 8.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said the strikes are likely to derail ongoing negotiations to end the war.

“There is very limited information coming from the US side; we don’t know the extent of the operation. It’s hard to say whether this skirmish is unusual,” he said.

“But Trump is keen to move forward with negotiations and solidify a peace deal.”

Earlier on Monday, a high-level Iranian delegation arrived in Doha to discuss roadblocks to a permanent peace deal.

The arrival of the delegation, which includes Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, came as US President Donald Trump said that peace talks were “proceeding nicely” even as he insisted that he would not agree to anything less than a substantial deal.

“It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

More to follow…