DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait before dawn.
Days of back-and-forth strikes by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East 鈥� and renewed threats to the 鈥� have shredded the interim deal to end the Iran war and could tip the region back into all-out war. Already, Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed more than 35 people and wounded over 300 others. Strikes also reached into areas around Iran鈥檚 capital, Tehran, for the first time of this latest round of violence.
When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the far beyond the region and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.
US and Iran trade threats as attacks intensify
Those rising prices U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes to retain control of Congress in elections in November. But Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway, leading to Trump reimposing the naval blockade Wednesday.
Iran鈥檚 parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iran was prepared for a fuller military confrontation if the U.S. does not live up to the terms of the interim deal, and Iran鈥檚 paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.
鈥淭he export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,鈥� the Guard said.
Trump again insisted Iran was ready to strike a peace deal, but he did not elaborate.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 like what we鈥檙e doing, and they do want to settle. We鈥檒l find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off,鈥� he said Wednesday at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania.
Trump separately said on social media that Tehran made a goodwill gesture by releasing an American citizen wrongly detained in Iran since 2024. He didn鈥檛 release further details. Human rights lawyer Jared Genser released a statement identifying the detainee as his client Dena Karari, a U.S.-Iranian citizen who runs a nonprofit and was charged with espionage.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the release and her case was not publicly known, as is sometimes the case with detentions in the Islamic Republic.
Both the US and Iran launch attacks as blockade is reimposed
The U.S. strikes early Thursday hit around Tehran, state media reported. It also reported that American attacks targeted Semnan province, home to Iran鈥檚 ballistic missile production and space program.
On Wednesday, the U.S. resumed striking Iran during daylight, further showing the increasing tempo of the attacks. An attack on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz, targeted Iranian defense and missile sites, Central Command said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma sailing toward in the Persian Gulf. After the ship 鈥渋gnored multiple warnings,鈥� a U.S. aircraft disabled the merchant vessel by firing a missile into the ship鈥檚 smokestack.
Another American strike Wednesday targeted a barracks for Iran鈥檚 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and the seven dead included conscripts and career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.
Iran retaliated Thursday with missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, authorities in those countries home to U.S. forces said. There was no immediate acknowledgment of damage or casualties from the attacks.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of the fighting
The latest round of fighting is focused on the . How to reopen the strait has bedeviled the U.S. since Iran choked it off in the early days of the war.
During the interim deal, some ships began moving through the passage using a route near Oman overseen by the U.S. military that is outside Tehran鈥檚 control.
In recent days, Iran attacked ships using that route 鈥� and back-and-forth attacks ensued. The U.S. has 鈥� but experts say that would require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of ground troops. Imposing the blockade is another way to put pressure on Iran.
But in the meantime, oil prices are rising. The price for Brent crude oil, the international standard, on Thursday 鈥� more than 15% higher than the price before the war, but still well below the nearly $120 reached at the height of the conflict.
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