Iran live updates: US strikes Iran after 'unprovoked attacks' on warships

The U.S. conducted "self-defense" strikes against Iranian targets after Iran fired at U.S. destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command.

"U.S. forces intercepted unprovoked Iranian attacks and responded with self-defense strikes as U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers transited the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman," CENTCOM said in a statement.

No U.S. assets were struck, it said.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a Thursday statement that its Wednesday airstrike in southern Beirut -- the first on the capital since a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hezbollah last month -- killed Ahmed Ali Balout, the commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force commando unit.

Balout, the IDF said, was "eliminated in a precise strike, in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut."

The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at breaking through the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz and setting a timeline for both sides to work out a more comprehensive nuclear deal.

The one-page MoU currently on the table from the Trump administration would see Iran easing its grip on the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. gradually lifting its naval blockade of the country's ports over a 30-day period, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Officials underscore that nothing has been formally agreed to at this point and that some issues -- including ones related to Iran's ongoing demands to charge a toll for transiting the strategic waterway -- still need to be resolved.

Iranian and US negotiators have passed multiple draft versions of the MoU back and forth in recent days, and the administration is currently waiting for feedback from Iran on several points, they say.

In its current form, the one-page MoU does contain terms related to Iran's nuclear program, but the expectation is that most of the specifics would be negotiated over the 30-day period.

Officials have so far declined to describe the proposed MoU as a take-it-or-leave-it offer.

Israel launched strikes on Beirut Wednesday, targeting a Hezbollah commander, according to a joint release from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz.

"The terrorists, led by Radwan, were responsible for firing at Israeli settlements and harming IDF soldiers. No terrorist has immunity - Israel's long arm will catch every enemy and murderer," Netanyahu and Katz said.