A new round of escalating attacks between Iran and the United States continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace deal between the two countries and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist.”
On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile strikes against Bahrain and Kuwait after fresh US attacks on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete cessation” of negotiations to end the war. Trump said there could soon come a time when he would abandon talks and the United States would “finish the job militarily.”
The American president posted on social media: “If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
Kuwait, which hosts a major US military base, said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and there were no reports of injuries or damage, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Iranian strikes had damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one had been killed.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry said a Qatari national had been killed and a second person wounded by shrapnel from “military operations in the area.” The two were on a boat that disappeared on Saturday and was located early Sunday morning.
The ministry did not provide the location of the incident and did not say whether the shrapnel was related to the Iranian drone strikes.
The most recent violence has been sparked by efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping without direct oversight from Iran. The strategically critical waterway, which carried a fifth of the world’s pre-war oil and liquefied gas supplies, has long been considered an international passage.
US Central Command said in a statement that its strikes were “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression against commercial shipping” and targeted Iranian military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage and mine-laying facilities.
Washington has been promoting a southern route along the coast of Oman, while Tehran, which ultimately aims to charge fees for use of the strait, wants ships to “use a northern route through its waters and under its control.”
Hundreds of ships, including oil-laden tankers, have been blocked inside the Gulf by the closure of the strait since the war broke out. Some have risked passing over the past two weeks, causing oil prices to fall to near pre-war levels and bringing relief to economies around the world.
The US military on Saturday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by attacking the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku, which was carrying crude oil for Qatar’s state energy company. According to ship-tracking websites, the Kiku appeared to be attempting to use the southern corridor near the coast of Oman.
A Singapore-flagged container ship was attacked by an Iranian drone while transiting the same route last week.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, reaffirmed Tehran’s claim to have exclusive control of the waterway during a state visit to Iraq on Sunday. He said in Baghdad: “Any interference in this matter, any attempt to establish new or separate agreements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension.”
Observers say Iran is using its ability to threaten shipping in the strait not only as leverage in negotiations with the United States, but to intimidate neighboring countries and establish a more dominant role in the region.
Aragchi also called for the establishment of a security framework with the Gulf countries that would exclude the United States. He said: “We must reach a new framework that includes all countries in the region and without the presence or interference of any country outside the region.”
Mediators from Qatar and Pakistan managed to bring together representatives from Washington and Tehran in Switzerland earlier this month, but have been unable to bridge major differences on contentious issues such as the future of the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief on Tehran and the future of Iran’s nuclear program. Under the memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month, the two countries have 60 days to work out details before signing a final agreement.
Leaders in Tehran and Washington face domestic political pressure to avoid a return to conflict and appear committed to a ceasefire for now, despite frequent bellicose rhetoric.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for both new attacks on Sunday. It read: “Let the enemy know that violating the ceasefire… will lead to a complete disruption of ongoing processes.”
The IRGC, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, has gained influence in Iran in recent months. Its naval command said U.S. bases in the region would “experience hell in the coming days.”
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced the attacks, calling it “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression against the kingdom’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens and residents.”
Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, whose base there was repeatedly attacked during the war.
Violence has also continued in Lebanon, further threatening the agreement between Iran and the United States to end their own conflict.
Israeli military officials said a soldier had been killed on Sunday when soldiers encountered a “Hezbollah terrorist after entering a suspicious structure in the Deir Seryan area of southern Lebanon.”
The Lebanese state news agency reported a new Israeli attack targeting the outskirts of the cities of Deir Seryan and Taybeh in southern Lebanon.
The new clashes in Lebanon come two days after Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement aimed at ending hostilities. The agreement calls for Israeli forces to begin an initial withdrawal from the south of the country and their replacement by the Lebanese armed forces, who will assume responsibility for local security and the dismantling of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure.
They will also further undermine the prospects for any lasting peace deal between Iran and the United States, which Tehran has insisted depends on a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Israel, which is not a party to the US deal with Iran, invaded southern Lebanon in March in a new offensive against Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran.
Israel and Lebanon have repeatedly agreed to US-brokered ceasefires, most recently on Friday, but these have had only limited effect, as Israel insists it will not withdraw from Lebanese territory it has seized and Hezbollah repeatedly rejects calls to hand over its weapons as long as Israeli troops remain in place.
With information from Reuters and Associated Press
