After a long ceasefire and, if US officials are to be believed, constructive peace talks going on behind the scenes, it has come as a shock, that the US carried out a number of targeted air strikes in southern Iran recently, targeting Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to place mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
As the BBC reports, official word from the US calls these strikes "self-defense", and also say these were "designed to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces".
Furthermore, Captain Tim Hawkins from Central Command claims that the US "continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire," although the strikes have come under scrutiny for not really adhering to official standards for ceasefire terms.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, claims that in spite of these strikes, peace talks are still going on:
"We'll see if we can make progress. I think it's a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it'll take a few days," he told reporters.