Iran has vowed to respond with âcrushing and devastating blowsâ after US strikes killed five people attending a wedding party in Iran.
Iranian state media reported explosions across southern coastal areas, including Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island. Tehran also said US strikes hit civilian sites in Hormozgan province and a civilian airport in Kerman province.
One of the strikes hit a home in Kuhestak where a wedding ceremony was taking place, killing five people, including a child, and wounding at least 68 others, according to Hormozgan provincial officials.
The US military also struck two Iranian government tankers, Axios reported, marking the first time Tehranâs tankers were hit.
Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles towards Jordan, with its military saying it had targeted a US base near the Gulf of Aqaba.
The US military said it was aware of reports of civilian casualties but stressed that it ânever targets civiliansâ.
Centcom said it concluded its latest barrage against Iranian military targets on Tuesday night. The fresh strikes came after Donald Trump said he wants âtotal control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsingâ.
Pakistan is working with the US and Iran to end their conflict and believes they will soon âreturn to the table for dialogueâ.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi made the comments at a regular media briefing on Wednesday.
The visit last month of Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir to Tehran created "considerable momentum" on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
Iran is secretly developing advanced supersonic cruise missiles with the help of Russia, according to a report.
The C430L programme, which has spanned several years since 2023, has seen Moscowâs top missile specialists helping produce the weapons that would significantly strengthen Tehranâs military, with the prospect of total peace with the US currently looking bleak.
It was reported by the Financial Times, which dubbed the programme as one of the most âsignificant known transfers of strategic military technology from Moscow to Tehranâ.
Moscow is assisting Tehran in developing a ramjet propulsion system, which would enable cruise missiles to fly much faster than the speed of sound, according to military patents and leaked Russian correspondence, the FT reported.
Iranian missile expert Fabian Hinz, an analyst at Conflict Armament Research, told the outlet: âThis is the transfer of a highly strategically sensitive military technology from Russia that the Iranians have wanted to acquire for decades.
âA programme like this would require political clearance from the very top in Russia.â
Donald Trump has insisted that the US has âalmost total controlâ of the Strait of Hormuz.
âI like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsingâ, the US president said of Iran on Truth Social earlier Wednesday morning. âThey are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?â
Maritime traffic in the vital oil waterway has remained muted during the war, with just five ships passing through in the last 24 hours, according to the Hormuz Strait Monitor.
Firefighters in Kuwait rushed to contain a blaze at a residential complex in the capital after it was struck by an Iranian drone.
Public Fire Force spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammed Al-Gharib said on Wednesday, that the fire had been doused and blamed âa hostile droneâ from Iran for the attack.
Peru has severed diplomatic ties with Iran after accusing it of escalating conflict in the Middle East and restricting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
âThe government of the Republic of Peru has decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,â the Peruvian foreign ministry said.
Lima raised concerns over what it called Tehranâs repression of peaceful protests, restrictions on press freedom, discrimination against women and girls, and persecution of political opponents.
âWithin the framework of its firm commitment to defending democracy, a fundamental principle of its foreign policy, Peru has observed with growing concern the deterioration of democracy in Iran, as documented by various United Nations mechanisms,â it said.
Five people were killed and 50 wounded at a wedding near Sirik, a coastal area on the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian Red Crescent reported.
The Mehr news agency said a 4-year-old child was among those killed, while the IRNA news agency, citing a provincial official, put the number of wounded at 68.
According to reports, a shrapnel from the US strike struck a home where a wedding celebration was taking place.
A car struck a gathering of supporters of Iran's government and armed forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad overnight, killing four people and injuring more than 10, several Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
A car travelling at high speed first collided with another vehicle, lost control and then veered into the crowd after hitting safety barriers and traffic signs, Noor News reported, citing Mohsen Mousa-Abadi, head of Razavi Khorasan Province's traffic police.
Initial checks showed the driver, who was arrested, was not in a normal state, Mousa-Abadi said, without giving details on his condition.
There was no immediate indication of a political motive, and authorities described the incident as a traffic accident.
The evening gathering was one of a series of recurring events attended by supporters of the Islamic Republic and its armed forces since the war with the United States began in late February, according to Mehr news agency.
Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched attacks against US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Erbil in Iraq, as Tehran retaliated for fresh US strikes on Iran.
It was after Bahrainâs defence force said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom.
Bahrainâs defence force said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks targeting the kingdom.
It came as Tehran was retaliating against US strikes across the region.
Brent crude futures rose 1.3 per cent to $95.91 a barrel on Wednesday, marking further gains for a second day after fresh US strikes on Iran pushed oil prices higher.
The latest exchange of strikes has raised concerns over further disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices rose to a five-week high on Tuesday after the strikes began.
"The threat of further disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz has brought about renewed anxiety over inflation, driving a selloff in stocks across most major markets and a rout in global bond markets," Westpac analysts wrote.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond hit an intraday high of 4.8122 per cent, its highest level in almost three years, while the yield on the 5-year Japanese government bond rose to 2.295 per cent, its highest level on record.
