War, latest news. Bahrain calls for international action to halt Iranian aggression

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has called on the United States to halt Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as provided for in the Memorandum of Understanding. “Unfortunately, the Zionist entity continues to launch its air strikes in Lebanon,” he said at a press conference held in Baghdad alongside his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, adding that “the United States bears direct responsibility for bringing the aggression to an end, implementing the ceasefire and withdrawing from the occupied territories, as stipulated in the agreement”.

“According to the memorandum of understanding, the Strait of Hormuz, under the management arrangements adopted by Iran, will return to its pre-war capacity within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the adoption and implementation of these agreements; no other institution or country is responsible for them, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding. Any interference or attempt to adopt new agreements or ones that differ from the current ones would only serve to further complicate the situation and delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, thereby increasing tensions.” So said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad.

The Kuwaiti Armed Forces “have intercepted two hostile ballistic missiles”. This was reported by the Kuna news agency, which stated that there were no consequences, nor any damage or casualties. The news comes after the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned the repeated Iranian attacks”.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned a new Iranian attack on its territory, after Tehran stated that it had launched attacks against US bases in the Gulf in retaliation for US strikes. The ministry said in a statement that it “condemns and denounces… in the strongest possible terms, the recurrence of Iran’s atrocious acts of aggression against the State of Kuwait, the latest of which took place at dawn today, in flagrant violation of its sovereignty”.

Iran has stated that it is determined to defend its sovereignty following the latest US attacks against the country, whilst the fragile truce in the Middle East conflict hangs in the balance. “Iran strongly condemns the air strikes carried out by the US ‘terrorist army’ against several monitoring and surveillance facilities on the country’s southern coast in the early hours of Sunday,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it “reiterates its determination to defend Iran’s national sovereignty” against US attacks. Iran and the United States have accused each other of violating the truce, putting the negotiations aimed at ending the war in the Middle East under severe strain.

(Bahrain’s air defences have intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, according to reports from the Gulf kingdom’s armed forces, following fresh US strikes against Iran. The Bahraini army stated that it had “intercepted and destroyed a number of projectiles used in these malicious Iranian attacks”, adding that it was on “high alert”. Iran had previously announced that it had launched attacks against the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain and another base in Kuwait, in retaliation for US attacks on its own territory.

In a social media post, Trump stated that the United States had “struck Iranian missile and drone depots, as well as coastal radar installations, for violating the ceasefire agreement, ONCE AGAIN!”. He also warned that there may come a time when the United States will no longer be able to act with restraint “and will be forced to complete the task by military means”.

“If that were to happen, the Islamic Republic of Iran would cease to exist!”, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The US air strikes follow yesterday’s Iranian drone attack on an oil tanker. This incident follows a similar exchange of fire a few days ago, when an Iranian drone struck a merchant ship off the coast of Oman and the US armed forces responded with air strikes.

Iran has launched attacks against US forces in Bahrain and Kuwait after the US military announced that it had carried out raids on 10 Iranian sites, citing the attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz as the reason. This morning, air-raid sirens sounded for the second time in Bahrain, whilst Kuwait stated that its air defences had responded to “hostile threats from missiles and drones”. The news was reported on the website of the Qatari network Al Jazeera.

The United States has carried out further air strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz. Centcom, the US Central Command, has announced that “further strikes have been carried out against several targets in Iran” in response to Tehran’s action against a vessel transiting the Strait. “Following yesterday’s US strikes in response to the Iranian attack on the Ever Lovely, Iran was given the opportunity to honour the ceasefire agreement”. The Islamic Republic, however, “chose not to do so by launching a one-way attack drone that struck the ‘Kiku’ this morning”. “The Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz carrying over two million barrels of crude oil”. The US, therefore, “launched strikes today in direct response to Iran’s continued aggression against commercial shipping. US military aircraft targeted Iranian infrastructure used for military surveillance, communications systems, air defence sites, drone depots and mine-laying vessels. Centcom concludes by assuring that “the transit of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz continues” and that “US forces remain vigilant and ready for action”.