Iran and the United States exchanged fresh military strikes on Thursday, escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and raising fears over the fragile ceasefire between both countries.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it targeted a US airbase after the American military carried out strikes near Bandar Abbas, hours after US President Donald Trump dismissed reports suggesting Washington was nearing a compromise agreement with Tehran over the strategic waterway.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire.”
A US official told Reuters that American forces shot down four Iranian attack drones and struck a drone control station near Bandar Abbas before a fifth drone could be launched.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its response targeted the US airbase from which the operation was launched.
Kuwait, which hosts a major US military base, said it was responding to missile and drone attacks, although it did not identify the source.
Meanwhile, Israel reported hostile aircraft activity in its northern region as fighting involving Iran-backed Hezbollah militants continued in southern Lebanon.
The renewed violence pushed oil prices higher after sharp declines earlier in the week.
US crude futures rose more than 3%, while global stocks weakened and the dollar strengthened as investors reacted to fears of further escalation.
Trump also rejected an Iranian state television report claiming Tehran and Oman were close to an agreement to jointly manage shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Nobody’s going to control the strait. It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up.”
The White House later described the Iranian report as a “complete fabrication.”
Iranian officials, however, continued pressing for the release of Iranian assets frozen by the United States as part of broader negotiations linked to ending the conflict.
“We are seeking the release of all Iranian assets blocked by the United States, and this is the legal right of the Iranian nation.”
Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, said Iran’s assets “must be fully and unconditionally returned”.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the major sticking points in negotiations, alongside sanctions and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Before the war, the route handled around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
The US Treasury Department has now sanctioned the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the Iranian body established to oversee traffic through the waterway.
Iranian state television said a reported draft agreement would also involve the withdrawal of US forces from areas near the strait, although discussions over American troop presence in the region were still unresolved.
The report did not address Iran’s nuclear programme, which Washington says must be dismantled.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “The bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
