US and Iran trade attacks for a second day, undermining shaky ceasefire

Dubai/Washington: The United States and Iran traded air attacks on Thursday for a second straight day, and US President Donald Trump vowed further strikes if Tehran does not immediately agree to a peace deal.

The escalation in hostilities began earlier this week with the downing of a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, which sparked a series of tit-for-tat attacks across Iran and on US bases around the region.

It was the most serious threat to a fragile ceasefire agreed in April, dampening hopes for a swift end to the war that started in late February with massive US-Israeli joint air strikes on Iran.

The US military said its latest attacks targeted “military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defence sites across Iran” in response to what it called Tehran’s “unwarranted and continued aggression”.

Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Wednesday evening (Washington time) that the US strikes would stop soon but that he would resume heavy bombing if Iran’s leaders did not sign an agreement with the United States immediately, according to a post by Yingst on X.

Oil prices rose nearly $US3 ($4.30) following Trump’s threat of escalation, and extended gains in early Asian trade on Thursday.

The US military’s Central Command announced the strikes were complete about four hours after they began, soon after midnight in Tehran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched counter-attacks on 18 US military targets at airbases in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

It later said it had also targeted the al-Azraq air base in Jordan for a second night running, firing 12 ballistic missiles at the US base.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said an 11-year-old girl suffered minor injuries, while vehicles caught fire and homes were damaged in Hamad Town and the capital Manama, after debris fell from Iranian drones that were intercepted and destroyed. Kuwait said it briefly closed its airspace due to an Iranian attack.

Iran’s top joint military command also warned it would fire on any vessel trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed for months. Iranian media said two US ships were fired on.

US Central Command denied that the strait was closed or any of its ships were struck, saying commercial ships were still transiting the strait despite Iran’s threats.c

The US has maintained its own blockade on Iranian ports and said on Wednesday it had fired on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman that flouted its instructions and was carrying oil from Iran. India sai