Strikes come after US attacked Iranian ports and islands in the Strait of Hormuz over the downing of a helicopter.
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US President Donald Trump says Iran will “pay the price” for taking “too long to negotiate a deal”, after the country claimed responsibility for attacks on US forces in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in retaliation for US strikes on Iranian ports and islands in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement carried by Iran’s state media on Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched drone attacks on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait, as well as a long-range missile strike on an airbase in Azraq, Jordan.
It said it attacked 21 US targets and destroyed four of them, including an F-35 fighter jet hangar at the base in Jordan.
All projectiles were intercepted without casualties in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, according to their authorities.
The IRGC warned that its forces remain fully prepared to deliver a “crushing and decisive” response to any US military actions and that Washington would bear full responsibility for the consequences of further escalation.
The latest flare-up comes after the US military attacked Qeshm Island and ports along the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz after accusing Iran of downing a US Apache helicopter on Tuesday.
Following this exchange of strikes, Trump claimed in a social media post that Tehran stalling a deal to end the war. “They’ve taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them,” he wrote. “Now they will have to pay the price.”
A day earlier, the US president had said the two sides were just two or three days away from the agreement.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said Iranian officials were unmoved by the rhetoric. “Iranians are dancing to the same old tune,” he said, noting Tehran sees its own strikes as a demonstration of strength.
Asadi explained that Iran remains deeply sceptical of prolonged diplomacy. “Iranians are saying they are not interested in drawn-out talks while this cloud of mistrust exists,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed to Al Jazeera on Wednesday that a Qatari delegation was holding talks with Iranian officials in Tehran regarding the latest developments in the region and diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Doha, said that the Qatari mediators will be pushing for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The Gulf countries “see these Iranian attacks as attacks on their territorial integrity, their sovereignty”, said Bin Javaid, adding: “they see this as a war that they’ve been dragged into against their will”.
“However, it is very difficult to ascertain where we are right now [as] things could go either way,” said Bin Javaid. “As we’ve seen in previous conflicts, one side sometimes escalates to show it’s got the upper hand before signing a deal; in other cases, one side escalates with a kinetic operation, causing things to get out of hand.”
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in the US, said Iran’s swift response to Washington’s attacks signalled a new doctrine.
“They believe they have to respond proportionately, but very harshly and swiftly, against any American attack. Because otherwise, a new normal is established, one in which the United States can strike at Iran with more or less impunity,” he said.
The Iranians, he said, were making clear that any attack on them would be responded to, regardless of its size and scope. “But at the end of the day, every time these different types of events have occurred, the sense I have gotten from both sides is that their confidence and their trust in the ability of reaching a deal is starting to diminish,” he added.
The new round of strikes came a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire in their most serious escalation since a ceasefire took effect in April. The war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, and has shaken the global economy and driven up the cost of fuel and food.
Progress towards a peace deal remains slow, complicated further by Israel’s intensifying campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said that despite the latest strikes, neither side wanted a return to full-scale war.
“Whether the Americans are going to absorb this latest retaliation from the Iranians and end their operation or whether there will be new attacks will become clear in the next few hours,” he said. “But the understanding is that both sides would like to go back to negotiations, even though the Iranians say they don’t trust any American initiative with regards to peace.”
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