US strikes Iranian sites after Iran launches drones in latest Gulf flare-up
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Phil Stewart and Eman Abouhassira
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) – U.S. forces hit Iran’s coastal radar sites on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said.
The US military believes four Iranian drones are targeting regional maritime traffic, a US official told Reuters. The United States then struck Iran’s surveillance sites on Goruk and Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said in X.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US action broke the April 8 ceasefire and that such repeated violations showed that Washington did not intend to reduce tensions. He warned that the United States would bear responsibility for the consequences of its “illegal actions.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US attacks and opened fire on four tankers trying to cross the strait without its permission.
The Kuwaiti army said in a statement on Saturday that it fired seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, causing material damage but no casualties. In Bahrain, sirens were sounded and residents were called for shelter. Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the attacks.
PAKISTAN MINISTER LANDED IN TEHRAN
Iran later said it had hit US bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the US military said six missiles were intercepted and the seventh did not hit its target.
The United States and Iran have engaged in largely indirect negotiations for an interim deal to halt the three-month war, leaving issues including Iran’s nuclear program for further negotiations.
However, it was not possible to reach an agreement as the two sides periodically clashed.
Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, the lifting of sanctions on crude oil exports, the lifting of the US blockade of its ports and influence over the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, Iran effectively blocked the waterway through which about one-fifth of global oil traffic passed.
Iranian state media reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Saturday to meet Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Pakistan is mediating in talks to end the conflict.
Naqvi said he was carrying a “private letter” from his country’s army chief and prime minister to Iran’s religious leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
US President Donald Trump faces increasing domestic political pressure over rising gas prices to end the unpopular war. He told NBC that while most of Iran’s drone and missile production facilities have been destroyed, the Iranians still have access to about a fifth of their missiles.
“They’ve got some missiles, some drones. I would say in percentage terms, maybe 21% to 22% of their missiles. They’ve got a lot of missiles, but not like when we first attacked,” Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” according to excerpts released Friday.
Asked why Iranian leaders were not more willing to reach a deal if they were as desperate as he portrayed them to be, Trump said: “Because they’re strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d do, but they’re going to have to do it, they don’t have a choice, and it takes a while.”
After the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Tehran attacked Gulf countries hosting US bases and largely halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has increased oil prices and disrupted supply chains for other goods, including humanitarian aid.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN on Friday that the peace deal was contingent on the Trump administration freezing $24 billion in assets in Iran and warned that the United States would “enter a dark corridor” if it continued attacks.
Despite the Ceasefires, Flames Are Struggled in the Region
In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, two Lebanese officers and a soldier were killed in an Israeli attack on a military vehicle in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said. The Israeli army announced that it was investigating the incident.
Iran has made a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-affiliated Hezbollah in Lebanon a condition of any peace deal with Washington.
The Lebanese army said on Saturday that its commander, General Rudolf Haykal, had traveled to Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, without providing further details.
The surprise visit was notable given Washington’s insistence and that of Lebanese leaders, including the president, that ceasefire talks for Lebanon remain separate from US-Iran talks mediated by Pakistan.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassim this week rejected a US-brokered deal between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the conflict in Lebanon. The agreement did not envisage Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah was not a party to the negotiations.
Israel says its forces will not withdraw or halt operations in the country amid growing friction with the US
(Reporting from Reuters bureaus; Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba in CAIRO; Writing by Aidan Lewis and Nathan Layne; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Kim Coghill, William Maclean and Andrew Heavens)
