The United States of America (US) and Iran exchanged airstrikes on Thursday for the second day in a row, as President Donald Trump promised more strikes if Tehran did not immediately agree to a peace deal.
The escalation of hostilities began this week with the downing of a US Apache helicopter on Monday near the Strait of Hormuz, which triggered a series of retaliatory attacks across Iran and on US bases in the region, reports Reuters.
It posed the most serious threat to the fragile truce agreed in April, dimming hopes for a quick end to the war that began in late February with massive joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
The US military said its latest strikes targeted “military surveillance capabilities, communications systems and air defense positions throughout Iran” in response to what it called Tehran’s “unjustified and continued aggression”.
Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Jingst on Wednesday night that the U.S. strikes would stop soon, but that he would continue heavy bombing if Iran’s leaders did not immediately sign an agreement with the United States, Jingst wrote on the X network.
Oil prices rose nearly three dollars after Trump’s threat and continued to rise in Asian trade on Thursday.
The US military’s Central Command announced that the attacks ended about four hours after they began, shortly after midnight Tehran time.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched counterattacks against 18 US military targets at air bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
It later announced that it had also targeted the Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan for the second night in a row, firing 12 ballistic missiles at the American base.
Bahrain’s interior ministry said an 11-year-old girl suffered minor injuries, while vehicles caught fire and houses were damaged in the city of Hamad and the capital Manama after debris from Iranian drones that were intercepted and destroyed fell.
Kuwait said it briefly closed its airspace because of the Iranian attack.
The US denies Iran’s claim that the strait is closed
Iran’s top joint military command also warned it would fire on any ship that tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed for months. Iranian media reported that two American ships had been fired upon.
US Central Command has denied that the strait has been closed or that any of its ships have been hit, saying commercial ships continue to pass through the strait despite Iranian threats.
The US maintained its own blockade of Iranian ports and on Wednesday said it had fired on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman that had disobeyed its instructions and was carrying oil from Iran. India said the three missing sailors from the vessel had died.
Iranian news agencies reported explosions in several cities across the country of 93 million people, including Sirik, Kargan, Bandar Abbas, Minab and Karaj near the strait, as well as Varamin far to the north, closer to the Caspian Sea.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett portrayed the move as an attempt to force Iran into a deal that would end the conflict.
The strikes will “advance our military interests and also strengthen our diplomatic position,” he told reporters during a visit to Central Command in Florida.
“Tonight we will hit them hard and we hope Iran will make a good decision,” he said. “If we have to negotiate with bombs, we will negotiate with bombs.”
The United States and Iran have exchanged fire several times since the temporary truce took effect, even as negotiators have tried unsuccessfully to end the war, now in its fourth month.
Trump has repeatedly said that a deal is close, although there have been no signs of a breakthrough, while at the same time threatening to continue the bombing.
Iran accused the US of hitting reservoirs supplying drinking water to 10 villages and violating international law.
“This is not collateral damage — this is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagai said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The war has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted roughly a fifth of the global supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, sending prices skyrocketing.
The conflict has become a political problem for the White House, as polls show a drop in Trump’s approval rating amid voter dissatisfaction with high gas prices.
Some Republicans have openly expressed concern that the war’s unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Fighting in Lebanon continues
Fighting continued in the parallel war in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, as Hezbollah announced new attacks on Israeli forces.
The Israeli military said two “rockets” were identified as falling near areas where Israeli troops are operating in southern Lebanon, after sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel early Thursday.
Tehran’s demands include an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions against Iran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control over the Straits.
Trump says Iran must end restrictions on shipping through Hormuz. It also says that any peace deal must ensure that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies that it has any such intention.
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