Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman hit as Middle East sees heaviest strikes since Iran-US ceasefire

The Middle East witnessed the heaviest exchange of US and Iranian attacks since the April ceasefire with fighting over the strategic Strait of Hormuz threatening to derail efforts to permanently end the warAs US strikes on Iran continued on Monday Tehran said it would stop complying with the framework agreement aimed at halting the fighting if Washington failed to fulfil its commitments news agency AFP reportedIran also launched retaliatory attacks targeting Gulf nations with the powerful Revolutionary Guards announcing fresh strikes on Bahrain Jordan Kuwait and OmanThere is no doubt that this document is in crisis foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said referring to the June memorandum of understandingEach time that the other party has failed to meet its obligations we did not uphold ours he added We will continue to act in this mannerHowever Baqaei said Tehran was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar Pakistan and Oman in an effort to prevent any further escalationUS strikes Iran as Strait of Hormuz crisis deepensThe US Central Command CENTCOM said its forces had completed their latest round of strikes which began overnight targeting dozens of sites across IranAccording to CENTCOM US aircraft naval vessels and drones hit dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions to degrade Irans ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of HormuzIrans Mehr news agency reported fresh explosions of unknown origin in the countrys south around midday on Monday adding that they appear to be coming from the West Coast of Bandar AbbasThe past weeks hostilities have centred on the crucial energy trade route While Irans Revolutionary Guards have declared the Strait of Hormuz closed the United States maintains that it remains open to maritime traffic and is not under Iranian controlOil prices which had fallen after the June agreement was announced rose by as much as 45 per cent US benchmark WTI climbed to nearly 74 a barrel amid concerns over possible disruptions to global oil suppliesMediators have been trying to revive diplomatic efforts after US President Donald Trump this week declared the April ceasefire overIran blames US for derailing regional peace effortsPakistan which has played a key intermediary role in negotiations expressed deep concern at escalation in regional tensions according to its foreign officeIrans foreign ministry said the US attacks had caused the return of insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz and rendered futile all efforts to establish peace in the regionAnalyst Bader AlSaif said the renewed escalation would only delay a permanent agreementBoth sides want to end the impasse on their own terms and they are increasingly finding it difficult to do so Hence the return to and increase in the scale of attacks said AlSaif an associate fellow at Chatham HouseIranian state media reported two deaths in the latest US strikes which it said targeted large areas in the countrys south and westState news agency IRNA said one person was killed and four others were injured at a water pumping station in the southwestern city of MahshahrIrans Revolutionary Guards said they had struck US military targets and bases in Jordan Bahrain and Kuwait state media reported on MondayBahrain Kuwait and Jordan respond to Iranian strikesAir raid sirens sounded in Bahrain while Kuwaits army said its forces were intercepting hostile aerial targets on MondayJordans army said it had intercepted four Iranian missilesBahrains military accused Iran of carrying out heinous attacks with missiles and drones that target civilians adding that it had shot down several Iranian projectiles on Monday morningThe renewed fighting followed an Iranian attack early on Sunday on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz The vessel caught fire forcing its crew to abandon itFollowing the incident Irans Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region according to IRNAUS CENTCOM responded on X saying the strait was open to all vessels seeking to lawfully transitWith AFP inputs