The United States and Iran exchanged air strikes on Thursday for the second day in a row, with President Donald Trump vowing additional strikes if Tehran does not immediately agree to a peace deal.
The escalation of hostilities began this week with the shooting down of a US Apache helicopter on Monday near the Strait of Hormuz, which triggered a series of retaliatory attacks across Iran and on US bases in the region, Reuters reports.
It posed the most serious threat to a fragile ceasefire agreed in April, diminishing hopes for a quick end to the war that began in late February with massive joint US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.
The US military said its latest strikes targeted “military surveillance capabilities, communications systems and air defense positions across Iran,” in response to what it called Tehran’s “unjustified and continued aggression.”
Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Wednesday night that the US strikes would soon cease, but that he would continue the heavy bombing if Iranian leaders did not immediately sign a deal with the United States, Yingst wrote on the X network.
Oil prices rose nearly $3 after Trump's threat and continued to rise in Asian trade on Thursday.
The US military's Central Command announced that the attacks ended about four hours after they began, shortly after midnight Tehran time.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched counterattacks on 18 US military targets at air bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
It later announced that it had also targeted the Al-Azraq air base in Jordan for the second night in a row, 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 houses were damaged in the city of Hamad and the capital Manama after the remains of Iranian drones fell, which were intercepted and destroyed.
Kuwait announced that it had briefly closed its airspace due to the Iranian attack.
US denies Iran's claim that the strait is closed
Iran's top military command also warned that it would fire on any ship that tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed for months. Iranian media reported that two American ships were fired on.
US Central Command denied that the strait was closed or that any of its ships were hit, stating that commercial ships continue to pass through the strait despite Iranian threats.
The United States maintained its own blockade of Iranian ports and said on Wednesday it had fired on a vessel in the Gulf of Oman that had disobeyed its instructions and was carrying oil from Iran. India said the three missing sailors from the vessel had died.
Iranian news agencies reported explosions in several cities across the country of 93 million people, including Sirik, Kargan, Bandar Abbas, Minab and Karaj near the strait, as well as Varamin far to the north, closer to the Caspian Sea.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth presented the move as an attempt to force Iran into an agreement that would end the conflict.
The strikes will “advance our military interests and also strengthen our diplomatic position,” he told reporters during a visit to Central Command in Florida.
"We're going to hit them hard tonight and we hope Iran makes a good decision," he said. "If we have to negotiate with bombs, we'll negotiate with bombs."
The United States and Iran have exchanged fire several times since a temporary ceasefire took effect, even as negotiators have tried unsuccessfully to end the war, now in its fourth month.
Trump has repeatedly said that a deal is close, although there have been no signs of a breakthrough, while at the same time threatening to continue bombing.
Iran accused the US of hitting reservoirs that supplied drinking water to 10 villages and violating international law.
“This is not collateral damage — this is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagai.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The war claimed thousands of lives and disrupted roughly a fifth of the global supply of crude oil and liquefied natural gas, sending prices soaring.
The conflict has become a political problem for the White House, as polls show Trump's approval ratings falling amid voter dissatisfaction with high gas prices.
Some Republicans have openly expressed concern that the war's unpopularity could cost them control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Fighting continues in Lebanon
Fighting continued in a parallel war in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah militants, who are supported by Iran.
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, as Hezbollah announced new attacks on Israeli forces.
The Israeli military said two "rockets" were identified as falling near areas where Israeli troops are operating in southern Lebanon, after sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel early Thursday.
Tehran's demands include an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the lifting of sanctions on Iran, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control over the strait.
Trump says Iran must end restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. He also says any peace deal must ensure that Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies it has any such intention.
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