Fresh attacks have been exchanged between the US and Iran as escalated fighting entered its sixth day.
Iran has carried out a fresh wave of attacks on US military bases across neighbouring Gulf nations as American forces pressed ahead with overnight strikes on targets inside Iran.
The continued escalation came on the sixth day of renewed fighting, with Tehran claiming it targeted US-linked sites in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, further testing the fragile agreement aimed at bringing the conflict to an end.
At the same time, the US said it launched a six-hour operation against multiple sites in Iran, describing the strikes as an effort to “degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners” transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchange followed a warning from US President Donald Trump, who said Iran had “better behave” or risk further military action if it failed to return to the negotiating table.
According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) American forces struck command centres, air defence systems and coastal surveillance facilities at several locations, including the strategic port city of Bandar Abbas and Greater Tunb Island.
Iran state media reported explosions in several parts of the country, including the capital Tehran, where air defence systems were activated overnight.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeli Baqaei said a children’s cancer treatment centre in the city of Ahvaz had been evacuated after a nearby site was hit with strikes in a “barbaric attack”.
“Shahid Baqaei Hospital, a children’s cancer treatment centre in Ahvaz, was evacuated last night after the US attacked a nearby location,” he wrote on X.
“This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the hospitalised children, and forced the emergency evacuation of 211 patients undergoing chemotherapy.
“This constitutes a cowardly war crime against the most innocent of human beings – children who are bravely fighting for their lives.”
The US has not addressed the allegation.
Despite flared tensions, the White House says Iranian representatives continue to talk to the United States and want to make a deal.
“The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the Memorandum of Understanding that we struck with them,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
“Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately they have made the tragic decision for them to do that.
Ms Leavitt said that the Strait of Hormuz is open for ships that are not travelling to or from Iranian ports and that the US navy remains there “to ensure that can take place”.
Iran and the US exchanged intensified fire on Thursday in a week-long escalation that has all but torn up last month’s truce although Iran’s release of a US citizen pointed towards a path to avert the resumption of all-out war.
For the first time since an MoU paused fighting, the US launched two big waves of air strikes in a single day on Wednesday, mostly on targets near Iran’s southern coast, and kept firing on Thursday.
Iran responded with missiles and drones targeted at US military bases in neighbouring countries, including a barrage at a recently expanded air base in Jordan.
After Iran resumed its blockade of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the US again blockaded Iranian ports from Wednesday.
- with Reuters
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails