U.S. conducts 'self-defense' strikes in Iran; stock futures trim gains

U.S. forces carried out what they described as “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran early Tuesday, with U.S. Central Command stating that the operation was intended to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

CENTCOM spokesman Tim Hawkins said targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. “U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Hawkins added.

The action comes as U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday stateside that the talks with Iran were “proceeding nicely.” However, he warned that “it will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all,” threatening to take things “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in India, meanwhile said that the Strait of Hormuz has to be open, “one way or the other,” referring to U.S. action against Iran, _Reuters _reported. He added that the deal with Iran could take a few days. Fox News, citing senior U.S. officials on Monday said that the Iran deal was “95% there.

Elsewhere, equity futures trimmed their gains after U.S. and Israeli aircraft targeted Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, just hours after Trump indicated there had been progress toward an interim agreement. S&P 500 (SPX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SPX]) futures trimmed gains to 0.7% after rising more than 1% earlier. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 (US100:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US100:IND]) were 0.9% higher after trading as high as 1.5% earlier.

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