Dubai. The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting US-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

The US military’s Central Command said it hit 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

The US said the strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability "to threaten freedom of navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire. But Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

Sirens sounded Thursday afternoon in Jordan as well, where the US has stationed troops and aircraft.

An Iranian official accused the US of launching an airstrike later Thursday targeting the area around Iran's sole nuclear power plant, and other explosions were reported elsewhere in the country during the afternoon.

The strikes came hours after US President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

In Iran, the two days of American airstrikes have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran’s Health Ministry said Thursday. Most were reportedly members of the armed forces.

In Kuwait, the military said falling debris wounded one person as the nation shot down three ballistic missiles, a cruise missile and 10 drones. Bahrain said it shot down incoming fire, without elaborating, and Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said all incoming fire from Iran had been intercepted. Iranian state TV said the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at a US base in Jordan.

Traffic has picked up somewhat since a tentative deal last month included opening the the Strait of Hormuz. Maritime data company Lloyd’s List Intelligence said Thursday that preliminary data showed at least 576 ships passed through the strait in June, compared to 233 in May. More than 3,100 transited the strait in June 2025.

Attacks on ships — and the threat of such strikes — virtually halted traffic in the waterway during the conflict, making oil prices skyrocket and raising the cost of food and other basic goods far beyond the region.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ehsan Jahanian, a local official in Bushehr, as accusing the US of striking near the plant around noon, hours after the US military’s Central Command said it had ended its latest round of strikes on Iran. Asked for comment on Bushehr, Central Command referred to a press release that detailed targets but made no mention of the nuclear power plant.

During the war, several strikes hit the area around the plant but didn't damage it.

For the first time since April, US strikes also appeared to target Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran’s northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guard said two bridges were attacked on the route to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday.

Trump's Warning
After leaving a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.

“This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote on Wednesday, a day after three tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in lengthy military action.

Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric and desalination plants, and to seize Kharg Island, through which some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X on Thursday morning: “America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you’ll get hit.”

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with his Saudi, Turkish and Omani counterparts and with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been one of the main mediators in the war. The diplomatic outreach suggested efforts may be underway to reduce tensions.

In a post on Telegram, Araghchi repeated Iran’s assertion that the US has violated the interim peace deal reached last month.
 

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