US and Iran exchange strikes across Middle East for second day in a row

The US and Iran have exchanged strikes across the Middle East for a second consecutive day, further straining an already shaky ceasefire agreed between the two countries in April.

US Central Command (Centcom) said it had completed a wave of "self-defense strikes" targeting military, surveillance and radar sites in southern Iran.

The attack came hours after President Donald Trump vowed US forces would hit Iran "hard", and that Tehran had taken "too long to make a deal" to permanently end the war.

In response, Iran launched a round of strikes targeting US military assets in countries across the region.

US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait came under Iranian fire for a second day in a row, while Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it fired ballistic missiles at a US command centre in Jordan, according to Iranian state media.

The IRGC said it had destroyed "a large number" of US fighter jets and "facilities" after firing 12 ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Airbase in Jordan, although the claims have not been independently verified.

Bahrain's interior ministry said its air raid sirens were activated overnight and that there was damage to homes and vehicles in the capital Manama and Hamad Town caused by falling shrapnel.

An 11-year-old girl was treated for a "minor injury", the ministry said, calling Iran's strikes "sinful".

Meanwhile, Kuwait's Army posted on X that its anti-air defence systems intercepted "hostile aerial targets".

Kuwait said it had temporarily closed its airspace due to the Iranian attacks.

In the latest flare-up, the IRGC also said it had hit two oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported, although there was no immediate confirmation of the strike.

That came after Iranian state media reported that the Strait of Hormuz was "completely closed to all type of vessel". Centcom, however, said "commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz".

Oil prices rose shortly after the closure of the shipping channel and the apparent attack on the ships was announced.

Brent crude oil, seen as the global benchmark, climbed to around $95 a barrel after rising by about 2%.

Hours before the US launched its latest attack, Trump had warned: "We hit them hard yesterday and we're going to hit them hard again today."

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iranian leaders have "taken too long to negotiate a deal".

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran had been given a chance to make a deal but had not taken it, adding that bombs would be "dropping on key fac