US, Iran hit each other again as hopes for quick peace deal fade
The United States launched fresh attacks against Iran on Thursday, prompting Tehran to retaliate, as US leaders accused their counterparts of dragging out negotiations for a deal to end the three-month war. The second straight day of tit-for-tat strikes, with Iran targeting US bases across the Gulf, sent oil prices rising again. US President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly said negotiations with Tehran were close to an end, said on Wednesday that Iran keeps โplaying us for suckersโ and will now โhave to pay the priceโ. Hours after, US Central Command (Centcom) said American forces began โadditional self-defence strikesโ at 5:15pm on Wednesday Washington time โ early Thursday in Iran โ in response to what it called Tehranโs โunwarranted and continued aggressionโ. Iranian media reported explosions across the south near the Strait of Hormuz, with explosions heard in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Minab, and sources reporting hits by โenemy projectilesโ in Kargan and Sirik. Centcom said later that it had โcompletedโ its strikes on โIranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defence sitesโ. American forces โfired precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional watersโ, the command said. The renewed hostilities came as Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that if Trump required it, โweโll negotiate with bombs, and weโre very good at itโ. In response to the US strikes, Iranโs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they had struck US targets on bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and that they also โhit and destroyed Sheikh Isa air basesโ, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Iranian media said the army had conducted drone strikes targeting communications antennas and radar facilities belonging to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. An air raid alert was issued in Bahrain and residents were urged to โhead to the nearest safe placeโ, the Gulf nationโs interior ministry said on X. Kuwait closed its airspace temporarily as its military said its air defence systems were working to intercept โhostile aerial targetsโ. Iran also renewed its warning over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas transport which it has essentially closed. โAre you making the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe?! We will make the region hell for you,โ Majid Mousavi, the head of the Iranian Guardsโ aerospace force, said in a social media post. The Iranian navy said it had hit two ships trying to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, state television IRIB and the Mehr agency reported. Another Iranian news agency, Tasnim, quoted the countryโs military operational command as saying the crucial waterway was โcompletely closedโ and that โany vessel trafficโ there would be targeted. Centcom denied that, saying โcommercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonightโ. Trump said on Wednesday that the US military had secretly helped 100 million barrels of oil pass through the contested strait. โBomb the s out of themโ Earlier, American broadcaster Fox News reported that Trump said Iranian leaders had called him directly in the White House Situation Room as the US bombs began falling. Iranโs IRGC quickly denied Tehran had done so, the IRNA news agency said. Trump said US forces hit Iran with 49 Tomahawk missiles and some targets were as close as 60 kilometres from Tehran, Fox News said. Its reporter Trey Yingst, who spoke to Trump, quoted the president as saying that if Iran did not accept US terms for ending the war, โWeโll bomb the S out of them tomorrow nightโ. It was the second straight day of US attacks, following tit-for-tat strikes this week partly in response to the Iranian downing of an American helicopter. The fresh salvos followed Trumpโs complaint that Tehranโs negotiators were taking too long, having suggested earlier this week that an accord was days away. โWe hit them hard yesterday. Weโre going to hit them again hard today,โ Trump told reporters on Wednesday morning. โWe were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along.โ Hegseth suggested the strikes could extend into a third night, saying they would be โstrongโ and โclearโ. The escalation drew international calls for restraint on the eve of the World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting and Iran is participating in. UN chief Antonio Guterres cautioned against a return to โfull warโ. Iranโs UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, meanwhile, rejected Trumpโs threat, saying โno sustainable deal can be reached through threats, intimidation, or the use of forceโ. Still, diplomacy has not collapsed entirely, with Qatari negotiators travelling to Tehran โto meet with the Iranians in an effort to bridge the remaining gapsโ, a diplomat with knowledge of the situation said. The war began in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, shaking the geopolitical balance in the Middle East and roiling global markets before a ceasefire took effect on April 8. Asian stocks tracked losses in New York, while oil prices jumped as much as two per cent on Thursday, extending similar gains the day before. Iran has also insisted that any deal to end the war must include a truce in Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting.
