US says Iran radar sites struck and drones intercepted, in latest threat to fragile ceasefire

Kuwait and Bahrain issued air raid alerts as Iran targeted American bases, after the US shot down drones and struck Iranian radar sites

The US and Iran exchanged a series of strikes on Saturday morning, in the latest flare-up to threaten the ceasefire in the Middle East war.

The US military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the strait of Hormuz and struck coastal surveillance radar sites in response. Iran followed hours later, saying it targeted US bases in the region, with Kuwait and Bahrain both issuing air raid alerts.

It was the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and harmed efforts to reach a deal to extend the truce.

US central command (Centcom) said early on Saturday that Iranian attack drones “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” while the strikes on radar installations were to “defend against further attacks”. The US military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s chokehold on the strait – a crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments – which has sent energy prices spiking.

Hours later Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted “enemy bases” in the Gulf, after the US strikes on Sirik and Qeshm Island.

Kuwait’s military said early Saturday it was responding to “hostile” missile and drone attacks, days after a strike on the country’s international airport killed one and wounded dozens.

“Iran fired seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain”, Centcom said, adding that six were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.

“There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” Centcom said.

Earlier on Friday, US president Donald Trump told reporters “the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well”.

“We’re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it’s going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it’s a piece of paper or the very tough way,” Trump said at an event with farmers in Wisconsin.

Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has delivered a shock to markets and proven unpopular at home as midterm elections loom. US and Iranian negotiators have for weeks been working to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program. But both sides have continued to call for changes in the deal, with neither side appearing ready to compromise.

Asked on Friday why it was taking so long, Trump told NBC it was because “it’s a very hard thing” for Iran, citing their “great independence”.

“There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice, and it takes a little while,” he said in the interview.

In other comments on Friday, Trump said Iran still has more than 20% of its missiles left, a figure for the stockpile that was higher than that of 18% which Trump gave last month. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran’s ability to wage war.

“They still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22% of their missiles,” Trump told NBC News in an interview.

His administration has also touted the latest ceasefire agreed to this week by the Lebanese government and Israel after US-brokered talks in Washington. That’s despite Iranian-backed Hezbollah – who were not party to the talks – rejecting the agreement and new attacks being launched by both sides.

The Israeli military on Friday struck multiple parts of southern Lebanon and issued evacuation warnings a number of villages, including one that has sheltered thousands of people displaced by the fighting.

The fighting in Lebanon , where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south, also threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon.

With the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse