US and Iran trade strikes in latest Gulf flare-up

WASHINGTON: US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on Saturday (Jun 6) after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest escalation complicating 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. US Central Command said on X that the US then struck Iran's surveillance sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, which are both on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's foreign ministry said the US action broke an Apr 8 ceasefire, adding that repeated such violations showed Washington had no intention of reducing tensions. 

It warned that the US would bear responsibility for the consequences of its "illegal actions" and any further escalation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US strikes and fired on four tankers attempting to cross the strait without its permission.

Kuwait's army said on Saturday it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties. In Bahrain, sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter.

PAKISTANI MINISTER LANDS IN TEHRAN

Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the strikes. Iran later said it had hit US bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the US military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.

The US and Iran have been engaged in largely indirect negotiations to secure an interim deal to halt the three-month-old war that would leave issues, including Iran's nuclear programme, to further negotiations.

But a deal has remained elusive as the two sides have periodically skirmished.

Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, the lifting of a US blockade on its ports and leverage over the strait. Iran has effectively blocked the waterway, where about a fifth of the world's oil transited before the war.

Iranian state media reported that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Saturday for talks with Iranian officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Pakistan has been mediating talks on an end to the conflict.

Naqvi said he was carrying a "special letter" from his country's army chief and prime minister to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

US President Donald Trump is facing mounting domestic political pressure due to rising gas prices to bring the unpopular war to an end. He told NBC that while most of Iran's drone and missile manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, the Iranians still have access to about a fifth of their missiles.

"They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say percentage-wise, maybe 21 percent to 22 percent of their missiles. It's a lot of missiles, but it's not what it was when we first attacked," Trump told NBC News' "Meet the Press" programme, according to excerpts released by the network on Friday.

When asked why Iran’s leaders were not more inclined to strike a deal, if they are as desperate as he has portrayed them, Trump said: "Because they are strong. They're proud. There are things they never thought they'd be doing that they're going to have to do, they've got no choice, and it takes a little while."

After the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Tehran attacked Gulf states hosting US bases and largely stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflict has driven up 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 a peace deal hinged on the Trump administration unfreezing US$24 billion in Iranian assets, and warned that the US would "enter into a dark corridor" if it resumed attacks.

FIGHTING FLARES ACROSS REGION DESPITE CEASEFIRES

In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, two Lebanese army officers and a soldier were killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in south Lebanon, the Lebanese army said. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.

Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah a condition for any peace deal with Washington.

Lebanon's army said on Saturday its commander, General Rudolf Haykal, left for Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, without giving further details.

The surprise visit is notable given the insistence by Washington, and by Lebanese leaders including the president, that ceasefire talks for Lebanon remain separate from US-Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem this week rejected a US-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting in Lebanon. The deal did not provide for an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah had not been party to the negotiations.

Israel has said its forces would not withdraw or halt operations in the country amid increasing friction with the US.