{"id":127103,"date":"2026-06-06T17:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=127103"},"modified":"2026-06-06T17:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T12:48:56","slug":"us-iran-exchange-strikes-in-gulf-in-latest-flare-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127103\/","title":{"rendered":"US, Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest flare-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Web desk(National Times)- New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ceasefire in the Middle East war, triggered nearly 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran\u2019s top leadership, has been in place since April 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But tensions surged again on Friday when the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran after downing drones headed toward the strait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after, air raid sirens sounded in neighboring Gulf nations Kuwait and Bahrain \u2014 both US allies \u2014 and AFP<\/em> correspondents in both countries heard explosions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said early on Saturday they had targeted \u201cenemy bases in the area\u201d with missiles in response to a US \u201cinvasion\u201d of the country\u2019s Sirik and Qeshm islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Central Command (Centcom) said Iran launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centcom said six of the missiles were downed while the seventh \u201cdid not reach its intended target\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,\u201d the command said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest flare-up came despite the United States moving ahead with allowing Iran\u2019s national football team to travel to the FIFA World Cup it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the visa issuances, saying that \u201csports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Iran\u2019s Fars<\/em> news agency reported that visas had yet to be issued for some members of the team\u2019s \u201ctechnical and executive staff\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unnamed US administration official said in a statement: \u201cWe will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team is due to fly from Turkey to Spain on Saturday before traveling on to their base camp in Mexico, where they will arrive on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Trading strikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Earlier Friday, Centcom said its forces also downed four Iranian drones headed toward the Strait of Hormuz before striking Iranian coastal radar installations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,\u201d while the strikes on radar installations \u201cdefend against further attacks,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian state television IRIB<\/em> reported early on Saturday, local time, that \u201cseveral explosions were heard\u201d in Sirik in southern Iran at around 2:30am (2300 GMT Friday).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing the invasion of the child-killing and terrorist US army into Sirik and Qeshm Island, enemy bases in the region were hit by aerial missiles,\u201d IRIB<\/em> reported, quoting the Guards after the US strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuwait\u2019s military said early on Saturday it was responding to \u201chostile\u201d missile and drone attacks, days after a strike <\/a>on the country\u2019s international airport killed one and wounded dozens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKuwaiti air defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone attacks,\u201d the military said on X, without specifying their origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US President Donald Trump told NBC News<\/em> on Friday that Iran still retained roughly \u201c21, 22 per cent\u201d of its missile stockpile despite repeated claims from US officials that Tehran\u2019s military capacity had been crippled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That figure was higher than the 18pc Trump gave in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Lebanon asks for \u2018mercy\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the conflict has rattled global markets and increased political pressure on Trump at home ahead of midterm elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe negotiations are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock,\u201d Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN<\/em> in an interview on Friday, as he called for the release of frozen Iranian assets to the tune of \u201c$24 billion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanon \u2014 which was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 \u2014 called on Friday for Iran to stop interfering in its affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel and Hezbollah traded attacks after a new truce deal was flatly rejected by the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam addressed Iran\u2019s leaders in frank terms during a press conference, saying: \u201cHave mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are the people of a sovereign nation that refuses to serve as \u2026 an open battlefield for their wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took aim at similar criticism from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun early on Saturday, calling on him to save Lebanon from its \u201creal foe\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran, in peace negotiations with Washington, has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon and the war in the Gulf are inextricably linked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Web desk(National Times)- New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire. Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. A ceasefire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nUS, Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest flare-up - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/127103\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US, Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest flare-up - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire. Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. 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