UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the United States and Iran on Sunday to halt their new outbreak of fighting in the Mideast war and resume talks to end it.
Guterres specifically mentioned US attacks on Iran and the latter’s strikes on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and US allies in the Gulf region. “These attacks must stop,” Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Meanwhile, US and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting US facilities in states across the Gulf on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the strait. However, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.
The strikes extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April, while the UAE which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defences had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.
Kuwait’s defence ministry said on Sunday that three border posts and an offshore oil platform were attacked during a fresh exchange of strikes between the US and Iran.
“Three land border posts in the north of the country were subjected to a cowardly attack, resulting in material damage,” the statement said, without specifying the origin of the assault. – AFP
