US and Iran exchange strikes as Israel steps up attacks on southern Lebanon | US-Israeli war against Iran

The United States carried out new strikes in Iran, targeting a military installation and shooting down Iranian attack drones, U.S. officials said, apparently triggering an Iranian retaliatory attack on a U.S. airbase in Kuwait.

U.S. Central Command forces shot down four one-way Iranian attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A ground control station in Bandar Abbas in Iran, which was about to launch a fifth drone, was hit by the attacks, officials said. “These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” an official told Reuters.

Two hours later, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that the Revolutionary Guards had targeted a US base in Kuwait “which served as the source of the attack” in retaliation for the strikes. The Kuwaiti military confirmed its air defenses intercepted hostile missile and drone threats shortly before 6 a.m. in Kuwait City.

The apparent retaliatory strikes came as Iranian forces also fired on four ships attempting to cross the strait, IRIB reported. “Four ships attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz and enter the Persian Gulf without coordination with security forces,” IRIB posted on Telegram, specifying that the incident occurred around 12:35 a.m. local time, but without providing details about the ships.

These new strikes, combined with Donald Trump’s latest strident remarks on Iran, Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, have underscored how far apart the United States and Iran appear to be in negotiations to end the war. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israel launched widespread strikes and declared a large part of the south a new combat zone.

After declaring over the weekend that a deal was close, Trump threatened on Wednesday to “finish the job” if Tehran did not accept the deal.

“[Iran] I really want to make a deal. So far, they have not succeeded. We’re not happy with it, but we will be,” he said during a televised cabinet meeting at the White House. “Either that or we’ll just have to finish the job.”

He claimed Iran was “negotiating on smoke” and insisted November’s midterm elections would not force it to strike a deal to end a conflict that has roiled the global economy. Trump and U.S. officials have frequently said the war will be over in four to six weeks, in the days after the first U.S.-Israeli strikes were launched on February 28.

At the cabinet meeting, Trump also appeared to issue a warning to Oman, a U.S. ally, when asked about a possible short-term deal allowing Iran and Oman to control the Strait of Hormuz, which remains clogged.

Trump said the strait would be “open to everyone” and “and Oman will behave like everyone else, or we’ll have to blow them up.” The White House did not immediately say whether Trump misspoke.

Iranian state television earlier said it had secured an unofficial draft of an agreement that would restore commercial shipping across the strait to pre-war levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly managing the traffic. The White House called the report a “complete fabrication.”

Another key unresolved question is whether a ceasefire between the United States and Iran will cover Israeli operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon. Iran has insisted that Lebanon must be covered by any ceasefire deal negotiated with the United States.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army was “deepening its operations” in Lebanon; and overnight, the Israeli army clashed with Hezbollah fighters along a strategic river in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops pushed further north. Hezbollah described “point-blank” fighting with Israeli forces in a strategic town just beyond Israel’s declared “yellow line” in the south of the country.

People on a beach watch smoke rise from an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese city of Tire on May 27. Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images

The Israeli military said it had struck 550 targets since the start of the week, a significant increase in attacks. Hezbollah has vowed to fight until the end of the war in Lebanon and until Israel withdraws its troops from the south of the country. Hezbollah rejected Lebanon’s direct negotiations with Israel and supported Iran’s negotiations with Washington in their war.

Early Thursday, the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for residents of Tire in southern Lebanon.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since March 2, when Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of Iran.

Since then, Israeli strikes have hit southern, eastern Lebanon and its capital Beirut, killing more than 3,200 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The fighting continues despite a ceasefire announced on April 16 under the aegis of the United States, which now seems on the verge of collapse. The World Health Organization said at least 608 people in Lebanon had been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce.

The Israeli military said 10 of its soldiers had been killed since the ceasefire, including six by Hezbollah explosive drones.

With Associated Press and Reuters

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