Written by JON GAMBRELL, SAM METZ and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

The U.S. military on Thursday slammed Iran for violating a fragile ceasefire after Kuwait reported coming under attack in the latest flare-up that threatened ongoing negotiations to end the war.

U.S. Central Command said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of America’s top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression.”

The U.S. and Iran have traded strikes throughout the week, even as President Donald Trump has said he’s confident his administration is making headway in negotiations with Iran to end the war.

On Monday, the U.S. said it conducted what the Pentagon called “defensive” strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran. U.S. officials said late Wednesday in Washington that forces launched more strikes on Iran, shooting down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the strait and hitting an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard via the state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the attack around Bandar Abbas International Airport and said it launched its own retaliatory attack on the air base that launched the assault, without specifying whether the attack referenced had targeted Kuwait.

Kuwait’s military announced its air defense systems intercepted incoming missiles and drones on Thursday, without providing further details on what had been targeted. Home to U.S. Army Central’s forward headquarters as well as air bases and a naval base, Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq before the April ceasefire.

The announcement comes as the Middle East is on the edge and talks to end the war remain in flux.

Trump is looking for an agreement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz — through which about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed. He is also seeking to get Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium while the Islamic Republic wants economic sanctions to be lifted and frozen assets to be released to aid its shattered economy. The war has been unpopular in the U.S., and Iran’s closure of the strait has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driving up fuel prices around the world.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Amirhosein Khorgooi

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