Iran Responds To Second Day Of U.S. Strikes By Firing At Gulf States And Jordan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Mutual attacks by the United States and Iran for the second day brought the Middle East closer to the resumption of a peaceful process. full scale war. The American offensive in Iran, which lasted until Thursday morning, appeared to be more intense and broader than the day before, but Tehran gave little information about the extent of the damage.

Additionally, the US military said that it neutralized an oil tanker that was trying to break the blockade of Iranian ports with missile fire. The announcement came after an Indian official said an earlier US attack on a different ship nearby had killed three Indian sailors, underscoring the danger to sailors.

For the third time this week, back-and-forth attacks have shaken the Middle East. Related first Attacks between Iran and IsraelThis was followed by two rounds of fire between the United States and Iran, hitting countries in the region that host American bases.

The exchange of fire took place at a time when negotiation efforts to end the war were stalled, with US President Donald Trump warning that Tehran would “pay the price” for this. negotiations stalled. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the US strikes had “effectively rendered the ceasefire meaningless” but did not abandon it.

At the heart of the negotiations is Iran strangling Iran. Strait of Hormuzdisrupting global energy supply, increasing fuel prices and food and other basic information it is more expensive far beyond the region.

Iran announced the closure of the strait on Thursday, but it was unclear what that meant because traffic in the waterway has been severely restricted since early in the war and only a minority of ships have been able to pass through. The US military’s Central Command disputed the claim, and Trump said on Wednesday that the US had undertaken a covert mission to sneak ships through the gate in recent weeks.

The two sides are also at odds over Iran’s nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is peaceful but which the US and Israel fear could be used to make atomic weapons due to its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The US and Israel said the main reason they went to war on February 28 was to ensure that Iran would never be able to do so.

Central Command said the latest airstrikes came “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and ongoing aggression” and targeted “Iran’s military surveillance capabilities, communications systems, and air defense facilities.” He did not provide details about the damage caused by the attacks, which he said ended just before sunrise in Iran on Thursday.

Explosions from the attacks echoed throughout Iran’s capital, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern regions along the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard later said the areas hit included a manufacturing complex, a military barracks and a local Guard base outside Tehran.

Iran announced that it responded to Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, as it did the day before.

Kuwait closed its airspace for several hours due to the attack but did not provide detailed information about any damage. Jordan said 20 Iranian missiles fired at an area hosting a base hosting US troops were intercepted but no one was injured.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said that an 11-year-old girl was injured and cars and houses were damaged during the intervention in the Iranian attack.

Meanwhile, Israel warned residents in the country’s north to seek shelter after suspected fire was detected in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran’s ally Hezbollah militant group.

Iran’s ability to control the Strait of Hormuz has proven to be a powerful bargaining chip, as effectively closing the narrow waterway would severely disrupt the global economy.

Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. military has been on a mission since last month to secretly ship oil past Iranian forces in the strait, backed by the destruction of Iran’s radar equipment.

As a result, Trump said, more than 100 million barrels of oil escaped Iran’s control. That figure, which equates to about five days of oil shipments through the waterway before the war began, was not immediately confirmed.

But the seas are still dangerous for sailors.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said Thursday it shot down an oil tanker in waters just outside the Strait of Hormuz to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports. It was stated that Hellfire missiles were launched at the ship in the Gulf of Oman late on Wednesday after the crew did not comply with US orders.

This is the ninth merchant ship the US military says it has disabled since the blockade of waters off Iran.

Indian Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced on X that three Indians killed in the previous American attack on the Settebello tanker were missing.

CENTCOM accused Settebello of “violating the ongoing blockade by trying to transport oil from Iran.” American forces opened fire on the engine room to stop the ship on Wednesday.

The leader of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, condemned the attack. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India’s foreign ministry had summoned a senior US diplomat to express its “deepest concerns” over the attack and to formally protest it.

Trump suggested earlier this week that a deal could be reached with Iran, but a mutual ceasefire has put that into question and major differences remain.

The United States wants Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, a short technical step to weapons-grade levels.

Iran refuses to give up uranium and demands sanctions relief. He also wants frozen assets to be released before a final deal is made, something Trump has rejected.

Iran has insisted that any agreement to end the war must also end the conflict between its ally Hezbollah and Israel. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on achieving one’s goal destroy the militant group.

A Qatari diplomatic delegation conducting negotiations in coordination with the United States left Tehran on Thursday morning after talks, according to an official with knowledge of the team who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss mediation. Meanwhile, Pakistan expressed deep concern over the rising tensions and called on both Iran and the United States to abide by the ceasefire.

Price and Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Victoria Eastwood in Cairo contributed to this report.