United States Launches New Strikes in Southern Iran

US F-16 fighter jets take off from an airbase in the Middle East. (Twitter/@CENTCOM)

JAKARTA - The United States launched another attack on southern Iran on Thursday, after President Donald Trump threatened to "finish the job" if Tehran did not agree to a peace deal.

Iranian media reported three loud explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas early Thursday, following earlier US strikes this week that underscored the fragile state of diplomatic efforts to reach a temporary peace deal.

"Today, US Central Command (US CENTCOM) shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz," an unnamed US official said in a statement to AFP, as reported by Al Arabiya (28/5).

"US forces also attacked an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that would launch the fifth drone," the official continued.

Earlier, Iran on Wednesday said it was unlikely the two countries would engage in war again, saying its military remained "on alert", despite the US launching the attack on Monday night.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said a "low-level war is possible due to the weakness of the enemy," but warned the military "to be on full alert" if attacked, Tasnim news agency reported.

The mixed signals have raised questions about talks aimed at formally ending the war that began on February 28 with a US-Israeli attack on Iran.

"Iran is very determined; they really want to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there. We're not satisfied with that, but we will be," US President Donald Trump said in a televised White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Either that or we have to get this job done," he said.

The main focus of the deal is also to restore full traffic to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Tehran, leaving the global energy market grappling with large amounts of oil and gas supplies that normally pass through the strait.

President Trump, who said over the weekend a deal was close, also told a cabinet meeting he was in no rush.

It is known that the State of the Mullahs and the Uncle Sam State have been exchanging threats for weeks while negotiating through Pakistani mediation.

Both sides do not seem ready to compromise on the main points that are obstacles: the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program.

Iran also insists that any peace deal must apply to Lebanon, where a 17 April ceasefire did little to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which dragged the country into war by attacking Israel in early March in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.