US hits Iranian installations after Iran launches drones in fresh Gulf flare-up

U.S. forces hit Iranian coastal radar stations on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said, in the latest escalation that complicates efforts to resolve the confrontation between the two countries.

The U.S. military believes the four Iranian drones were targeting regional marine activity, a U.S. official said. The U.S. then bombed Iran’s surveillance stations in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both near the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command stated on X.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it fired missiles at U.S. bases in the region in retaliation for U.S. strikes and fired on four tankers trying to enter the strait without its permission.

Kuwaiti air defences were intercepting missile and drone assaults of secret origin, state media said, and in Bahrain sirens rang and citizens were warned to take shelter. Iran stated it had launched ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in both countries but the U.S. military said six of the missiles were intercepted and a seventh failed to reach its target.

The U.S. and Iran have been negotiating, mostly indirectly, on a temporary settlement to stop the three-month-old war, which would allow matters such as Iran’s nuclear programme to be negotiated further.

But an agreement has proved elusive, despite recurrent battles.

Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, relaxation of a U.S. ban on its ports and power over the strait as part of any deal. Iran has virtually closed the strait through which approximately a fifth of the world’s oil used to pass before the conflict.

Rising petrol prices are adding to escalating political pressure at home for U.S. President Donald Trump to terminate the unpopular war. While most of Iran’s drone and missile manufacturing facilities have been destroyed, the Iranians still have access to around a fifth of their missiles,” he told NBC.They’ve got some rockets, they’ve got some drones. Percentage-wise, I would guess about 21% to 22% of their missiles. “It’s a lot of missiles, but not what it was when we first attacked,” Trump told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” program, according to excerpts released by the network Friday.

Trump was asked why Iran’s officials — if as desperate as he has depicted them — were not more ready to reach a deal.
“Because they are powerful. They’re proud. There’s things they never thought they’d ⁠be doing that they’re going to have to do, they’ve got no option, and it takes a little while.”

The U.S. and Israel opened the war against Iran on Feb. 28, after which Tehran launched missile and drone attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. bases, largely stopping shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The fighting has caused oil prices to spike and disrupted supply systems for other goods. The U.N. World Food Programme warned on Friday it was pushing millions more people into starvation owing to higher fuel and shipping expenses.

“A peace deal depends on the Trump administration unfreezing $24 billion in Iranian assets,” adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mohsen Rezaei told CNN on Friday, warning that the U.S. would “enter into a dark corridor” if it started strikes.

FIGHTING BREAKS OUT ACROSS REGION DESPITE CEASEFIRES

In a parallel conflict in Lebanon, the Iran-aligned armed group Hezbollah said on Friday it had launched two attacks against Israeli troops in south Lebanon, including near the recently captured Beaufort Castle. Lebanese security services said Israeli airstrikes hit towns across southern Lebanon.

Iran has reiterated its backing for Hezbollah and called for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Tehran has said that any peace deal to terminate the war with Washington must include a truce between Israel and Hezbollah.

The most recent bout of warfare between Israel and Hezbollah began in early March. Hezbollah declared it was acting in support of Tehran.

Hezbollah commander Naim Qassem rejected a U.S.-brokered deal between Israel and the Lebanese government to end the violence in Lebanon this week. The arrangement did not provide for an Israeli pullout and Hezbollah was not part of the negotiations.

Israel has continued to strike in southern Lebanon and vowed its forces will not retreat or stop operations in the nation amid rising conflict with the U.S. Parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri said on Friday he would accept the evacuation of the organization from southern Lebanon if Israeli troops also pulled out of areas they occupy in the nation.

Lebanon and people in Gaza, northern Israel and Kuwait have all been under fire this week, despite ceasefires mediated by the U.S., which Trump stated featured “shooting in a more moderate manner”, rather than a complete cessation of violence.