US forces attacked Iranian coastal radar facilities on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran into the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest escalation that complicates efforts to end the war between the two countries.
The US military believes the four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, a US official told Reuters. He Central Command of the United States stated in X that the United States then attacked Iranian surveillance facilities on Goruk and Qeshm Island, both located in the Strait of Hormuz.
He Revolutionary Guard Corps Iran claimed that it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US attacks and that it had fired on four oil tankers attempting to cross the strait without its permission.
Kuwaiti state media reported that air defenses were intercepting missile and drone attacks, while in Bahrain sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter.
Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the attacks. He Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kuwait called the Iranian attacks, including the latest one in the early hours of Saturday, a “flagrant act of aggression” that ignored international calls to stop such actions and posed a direct threat to citizens, residents and regional security, according to a ministry statement.
Iran later claimed it had hit US bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the US military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh missed its target.
The United States and Iran have held largely indirect negotiations to reach an interim agreement to end the three-month war and leave issues such as Iran’s nuclear program for future negotiations.
But, amid periodic skirmishes, an agreement remains elusive.
Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenues, exemptions from sanctions on crude exports, the lifting of the US blockade on its ports and influence over the strait. Iran has effectively blocked the sea route, through which approximately a fifth of the world’s oil transited before the war.
Iranian state media reported that Mohsin Naqviminister of Inside from Pakistan, a country that has been mediating to end the conflict, was heading to Tehran on Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation of the news from Islamabad.
The president of the United States, donald trumpfaces growing domestic political pressure due to rising gasoline prices to end this unpopular war. He declared to the NBC that, although most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, the Iranians still have access to about a fifth of its missiles.
“They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, in percentage terms, maybe 21%-22% of their missiles. That’s a lot of missiles, but it’s not what they had when we first attacked,” Trump said on the program “Meet the Press” of NBCNewsaccording to excerpts published by the network on Friday.
When asked why Iranian leaders were not more willing to reach a deal, if they are as desperate as he has described them, Trump responded:
“Because they’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d have to do and now they’re going to have to do, they have no choice, and that takes a little time.”
After the United States and Israel launched war against Iran on February 28, Tehran attacked Gulf states hosting American bases and largely halted shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has sent oil prices soaring and disrupted supply chains for other products. He UN World Food Program claimed on Friday that it was pushing millions of people into hunger due to rising fuel and transportation costs.
Mohsen Rezaeiadvisor to Iran’s supreme leader, told the cnn that a peace deal depended on the Trump administration unfreezing $24 billion in Iranian assets, and warned that the United States would “enter a dark tunnel” if it resumed attacks.
Clashes intensify despite ceasefire
In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, the Iran-aligned armed group Hezbollah said on Friday it had carried out two attacks against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, while Lebanese security services said Israeli airstrikes hit towns across southern Lebanon.
Iran has reaffirmed its support for Hezbollah while demanding that Israel withdraw from Lebanon. Tehran has made a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah a condition for any peace agreement with Washington.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassemrejected this week a US-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to stop the fighting in Lebanon. The agreement did not provide for an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah had not participated in the negotiations.
Israel has stated that its forces will not withdraw or stop operations in the country amid rising tensions with the United States.
