US military carries out second round of strikes on Iran

The US military said on Wednesday it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain in the latest escalation to derail efforts to end the war.

US forces struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets, which included air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran's coastline, according to CENTCOM.

The latest round of attacks, which the US said was carried out in response to Tuesday's assault on three cargo ships transiting the strait, came hours after President Donald Trump said he believed an interim ceasefire with Iran to be "over."

"US Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM, the US military's Middle East command, wrote on X.

"The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway."

The US strikes rattled several cities along Iran's southern coast and left some areas without power. Iran responded with a second day of attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain, both home to US military bases.

Kuwait's Defence Ministry said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Bahrain activated sirens across the country. 

The US strikes against Iran on Wednesday will be greater in number than the ones carried out on Tuesday, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened only under Iranian arrangements, not through US threats, " Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad ​Baqer Qalibaf, wrote on X.

The latest exchange of strikes appeared to dim hopes of turning a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 into a permanent deal to end the war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.