Explosions have rocked southern Iran near the strategic Strait of Hormuz for a second consecutive night, as Washington accused Tehran of dragging its feet over negotiations to end a three-month conflict, raising fears of a wider regional conflagration. (Updated at 01:58 p.m.)
Explosions rock southern Iran as “enemy projectiles” strike near Hormuz
The United States and Iran have exchanged military strikes for a second consecutive day, as Washington accused Tehran of stalling talks aimed at ending a three-month war.
Iranian state media reported explosions in the south of the country, in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, with the sound of impacts heard in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and Minab. Local sources claimed that “enemy projectiles” had struck the Korgan and Sirik areas.
Pentagon confirms precision strikes on Iranian air defence and communications
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) later stated that it had concluded a series of strikes targeting “Iranian military intelligence assets, communications systems, and air defence facilities.” American forces “employed precision weaponry against Iranian targets that posed a threat to US personnel and international commercial vessels transiting regional waters,” the command said.
The strikes followed a sharp warning from US President Donald Trump, who – despite having previously suggested a deal with Tehran was close – accused Iran of “making fools of us,” adding that the country must now “pay a price.”
The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, added that if the president demanded it, “we will negotiate with bombs, and that is something we are very good at.”
Tehran strikes back: US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait targeted
Iran retaliated by attacking American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Air raid sirens were sounded in Bahrain, where residents were urged to “proceed to the nearest place of safety,” the kingdom’s interior ministry said on X.
Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace; its military said air defence systems had been activated to intercept “hostile aerial targets.”
According to Iranian media, the attacks involved drones striking communications antennae and radar facilities belonging to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
Iran claims Hormuz “completely closed” as CENTCOM denies disruption to shipping
Iran’s navy also claimed to have hit two vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that the strategic waterway was “completely closed” and that any movement would be attacked.
CENTCOM rejected those claims, noting that “commercial shipping continued to transit the Strait of Hormuz in both directions overnight.”
“You are making the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe? We will turn the region into hell for you,” the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ aerospace force, Majid Mousavi, said on social media.
Oil price surges past $93 as Trump accuses Tehran of “stringing us along”
On Wednesday, the global benchmark oil price rose above $93 a barrel – more than 25% higher than at the start of the war.
Trump announced that US forces had secretly escorted 100 million barrels of oil through the contested strait. He renewed his call for Iran to sign a ceasefire agreement, recalling that only days earlier he had believed a deal was “just days away.” Now, he said, Tehran was “stringing us along” and dragging its feet on negotiations.
“We were so close to a deal, but they keep stringing us along,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
Defence secretary Hegseth did not rule out a third consecutive night of strikes, saying they would be “forceful” and “unequivocal.”
India accuses US Navy of attacking its vessels off Oman coast
The Indian government has formally accused the United States Navy of launching attacks on Indian vessels off the coast of Oman in recent days, a senior diplomat has confirmed.
Speaking to the press, Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said that New Delhi had lodged a strong protest with Washington following an incident involving a Palau-flagged tanker, the MT Settebello.
“When the attack on the Palau-flagged tanker MT Settebello took place, we registered a strong protest with the US side,” Jaiswal said. “We summoned the US chargé d’affaires ad interim and conveyed our deep concern over the increasing instances of attacks, registering a firm protest. These attacks were carried out by US naval forces deployed in the region.”
The diplomat also added that all three vessels targeted were sailing under foreign flags.
On June 10, the US carried out a missile strike on the MT Settebello, an oil products tanker, near the Omani coast. CNN, citing the Indian seafarers’ union, reported that Indian nationals were among the crew. Following the attack, 21 Indian sailors were rescued, while three crew members remain unaccounted for and have been listed as missing.
