US Central Command said seven ballistic missiles were fired at Kuwait and Bahrain, hours after it downed four drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz.
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The United States has announced that it has intercepted multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones that were launched towards the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf as negotiations between the two sides stall.
According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), seven ballistic missiles were fired towards Kuwait and Bahrain on Friday night, hours after CENTCOM shot down four Iranian attack drones that were launched towards the Strait of Hormuz.
It added that six of the missiles were intercepted, and the seventh did not reach its target.
Meanwhile, US forces targeted Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.
According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its attacks had targeted US bases in the region in retaliation for US strikes. It added that it fired at four tankers that were attempting to cross the all-but-closed waterway.
The US and Iran have been participating in indirect talks to reach an interim deal to end the war; however, the two sides remain at odds.
As part of the agreement, Iran wants sanctions waivers, access to frozen assets, and the lifting of a US blockade on its ports. At the same time, the US has called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and concessions on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaid said the IRGC’s latest attacks were a “warning” to the US.
“The IRGC stated clearly that this latest incident began when several oil tankers backed by the United States attempted to transit the state of Hormuz without coordinating with the IRGC,” he said, adding that what followed was a series of back-and-forth attacks.
“They are explicitly warning that this kind of aggression from the United States in the region will not go unanswered, and that it will retaliate forcefully and immediately,” Alruhaid said.
Later on Saturday, Bahrain’s army announced that its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed three missiles and a number of drones launched by Iran, adding that Iran continues its “systematic hostile approach” through “unlawful” attacks.
Kuwait’s Foreign Affairs ministry also condemned the Iranian attack, calling it a “brazen assault” that disregards international norms.
In a statement, it said that the attack “shows utter indifference to the direct threat they pose to the lives of citizens and residents, as well as to the security and stability of the region”.
Reporting from Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi explained that the tit-for-tat attacks have become a “mainstay” for the Iran war.
“The longer it goes on, the harder it is for negotiating sides, for mediators, for the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] not just to recover economically, but to get to a place where the fighting stops. Every time one of these attacks happens, it hardens political and military positions, and that makes the idea of a negotiated solution that much more fragile,” he said.
“We have seen the international economy suffer greatly as a result of the blockades with Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz and the US blockading Iran, and the worry is that this will carry on.”
As the US and Iran continue to trade attacks, Israel is still launching strikes in southern Lebanon.
On Saturday morning, the Lebanese army announced that several of its soldiers, including an officer, had been killed after an Israeli strike hit their military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatieh road.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said in a statement that the attack on a Lebanese army vehicle that killed two officers and one soldier in southern Lebanon had been in an “active combat zone”.
“It is noted that movement in a combat zone requires coordination” with the Israeli army, he said.
President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack and said in a statement posted on X that his office considered the attack a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and of international laws and norms”.
While Israel and Hezbollah continue to fight, the Lebanese army has historically avoided confrontations and has not engaged in the current conflict.
The latest outbreak of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began at the beginning of March after the armed group said it was acting in support of Tehran.
On Saturday morning, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected comments made by Lebanese President Aoun that Beirut was a bargaining chip for Tehran during its negotiations with the US.
“Had Lebanon been bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago,” he said on X.
“Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President.”
Earlier this week, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a US-brokered ceasefire between the Lebanese government and Israel to stop the fighting as it did not include Hezbollah or provide for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
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