Iran warns ceasefire 'meaningless' after US strikes, regional attacks

Iran warned on Thursday that the shaky ceasefire in the three-month war was now "practically meaningless" following fresh strikes by the US that saw Tehran respond with attacks around the region.

The war, which began on 28 February with an opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes on Iran, was paused by the April truce, but efforts to hammer out a permanent end to the fighting have stalled, and sporadic exchanges of fire have put the ceasefire under repeated strain.

In their second straight day of tit-for-tat attacks, Washington hit surveillance, communications and air defence facilities, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said, while the IRGC announced a "punitive operation" targeting a US base in Jordan and Gulf states reported incoming fire.

Iranian state-run media reported explosions near the Strait of Hormuz, with explosions heard in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Minab, and "enemy projectile" strikes in Kargan and Sirik.

CENTCOM said later that it had "completed" its strikes on "Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defence sites".

US forces "fired precision munitions on Iranian targets that posed a threat to US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters", it added.

The strikes came after US President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly said negotiations with Tehran were close to an end, said Wednesday that Iran keeps "playing us for suckers" and will now "have to pay the price".

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said that if Trump required it, "we'll negotiate with bombs, and we're very good at it".

Strait of Hormuz 'completely closed'

Iran responded to the US strikes by targeting bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. An air raid alert was issued in Bahrain and residents were urged to "head to the nearest safe place", the Gulf nation's interior ministry said on X.

Bahraini authorities later said an 11-year-old girl suffered minor injuries and homes and cars were damaged by "sinful Iranian aggression".

Jordan said it had shot down 20 Iranian missiles, while Kuwait's military said its air defences had engaged "hostile aerial targets".

Iranian media said the army had conducted drone strikes targeting communications antennas and radar facilities belonging to the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

The Iranian navy said it also hit two ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, adding that the crucial waterway was "completely closed" and that "any vessel traffic" there would be targeted.

CENTCOM denied that, saying "commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz tonight".

"Are you making the sacred Strait of Hormuz unsafe? We will make the region hell for you," Majid Mousavi, the head of the IRGC aerospace force, said in a social media post.

The international benchmark for crude oil traded above $93 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 25% since the start of the war.

Trump claimed Wednesday that the US military had secretly helped 100 million barrels of oil pass through the waterway, which normally carries around one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG trade.

The US president has urged Iran to sign a deal to end the war and suggested earlier this week that an agreement could be reached in days.

Saudi Arabia, which also came under Iranian attacks during the war, called on Thursday for more talks under Pakistani and Qatari mediation.

China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, likewise called for more negotiations on Thursday, with a foreign ministry spokesperson urging the warring parties "to immediately cease military operations ... respond to the mediation efforts of relevant countries, and achieve a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire".