US forces shot down multiple Iranian one‑way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday, US Central Command said, in a military flare-up that unfolded as Washington and Tehran reported progress toward a memorandum to end the war.
Centcom said the drones were intercepted after posing a threat to commercial traffic and that the international trade corridor remained open for transit. A source familiar with the matter told reporters the unmanned craft were attempting to target commercial vessels, raising immediate concerns about merchant shipping and the flow of oil through one of the world’s busiest chokepoints.
The shooting down of the drones came after a day of sharply contrasting public signals about diplomacy. On Friday, Iranian foreign ministry official Abbas Araqchi told state television the memorandum of understanding had "never been closer," and he later said the signing would take place digitally, with each side signing remotely. Araqchi also said transit through the Strait of Hormuz would be under Iranian management and warned that "Our sword will always hang over the strait of Hormuz."
At the same time, former US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Friday against firing more drones at ships trying to transit the strait, and reposted Araqchi’s social post about the deal. Trump added a public admonition to Tehran, writing that they should "better get their act together, and FAST!" and said the interim deal includes Iran giving up its nuclear programme.
The competing public claims sharpen the stakes of the incident. Araqchi told state TV that the agreement did not include anything about Iran’s nuclear programme and that nuclear talks with the US would "only take place at a later stage." That directly contradicts Trump’s account that the interim arrangement already covers Iran’s nuclear steps.
Diplomacy has not paused for the shootdown. Switzerland offered to host a signing ceremony for the memorandum, and US media outlets cited sources saying a signature could happen in Geneva either ahead of or during the G7 summit in France that starts on Monday. Officials on both sides have described the talks as nearing an agreement, but the details that would be written into any memorandum — and whether both parties will publicly accept the same interpretation of those details — remain unresolved.
The incident also sits alongside other regional violence. Hezbollah said on Friday its fighters confronted Israeli forces advancing toward Majdal Zoun near the southern Lebanese border. The Israeli military said it struck 310 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past week and killed 80 terrorists. Global oil markets responded: Brent crude fell to $87.33 a barrel on Friday.
The immediate consequence is twofold: commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz continued to transit, Centcom said, but the shootdown underscored how quickly diplomatic momentum can be undercut by kinetic events. The most consequential open question is whether the parties can reconcile public accounts of what the memorandum would cover — specifically the nuclear issue — and still proceed to a remote signing as Araqchi suggested.
If the sides move to a digital signature, the ceremony will be only the beginning of a fraught implementation phase. The drones fired at ships while diplomats argued over what was and was not part of a deal; whatever document is signed, the drones showed how thin the margin for error will be between a fragile peace and renewed confrontation.
