US-Iran truce being tested

Iran launched a salvo of missiles at US allies Bahrain and Kuwait yesterday, after renewed American strikes, drawing a furious response from the Gulf monarchies and further undermining a fragile truce.

Weeks of indirect talks marked by tit-for-tat threats and sporadic strikes have failed to secure a deal to end the Middle East war or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for Gulf oil and gas shipments.

Yesterday, the island kingdom of Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, denounced the latest attacks against its territory and that of Kuwait.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran had launched seven ballistic missiles towards the countries, but that six had been intercepted and one had fallen short.

Manama described the attacks, the second against both nations in three days, as “blatant aggression” and “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries”.

Kuwait’s foreign ministry warned that the Iranian attacks “represent a dangerous escalation” and a direct threat to the “lives of citizens and residents”.

In Bahrain’s capital Manama, an AFP journalist heard three explosions as air raid sirens sounded.

In Kuwait, another AFP journalist heard repeated blasts near the country’s international airport, which had been struck on Wednesday in an attack blamed on Iran that killed one person.

Formally, a ceasefire in the war, which was triggered almost 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran’s top leadership, has been in place since April 8.

But tensions rose on Friday, when the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran after downing drones headed towards the strait.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early yesterday they had targeted “enemy bases in the area” with missiles in response to a US operation targeting the country’s Sirik and Qeshm islands.

“There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

Iranian foreign ministry yesterday condemned the US attack on coastal radar installations in the Gulf, calling it a “flagrant” violation of the ceasefire.

The latest flare-up came despite the United States moving ahead with allowing Iran’s national football team to travel to the FIFA World Cup it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the visa issuances, saying “sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world”.

An Iranian state television report confirmed that the team’s players and technical staff had received their visas but that 15 administrative and managerial members of the delegation had been refused.

The team is due to fly from Turkey to Spain yesterday before arriving at their base camp in Mexico on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that Iran retains roughly “21, 22 percent” of its missile stockpile — more than the figure of 18 percent he gave in May — despite Washington’s repeated insistence that Tehran’s military capacity had been crippled.

Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the conflict has rattled global markets and increased political pressure on Trump at home ahead of midterm elections.

“The negotiations are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock,” Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an interview on Friday, as he called for the release of frozen Iranian assets to the tune of “$24 billion”.

“If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump,” he told CNN, according to an English translation of his remarks provided by the channel.

“This is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened,” he said, adding that “this is our own money, not America’s money”.

While there is no official figure for the total amount of frozen Iranian assets, media reports have estimated the sum at between $100 billion and $123 billion.

Lebanon — which was drawn into the Middle East war when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 — called Friday for Iran to stop interfering in its affairs.

Yesterday, Lebanon said an Israeli strike in the south of the country had killed three of its soldiers. The Israeli military said it was “reviewing the incident” and insisted its operation in Lebanon was targeting Hezbollah, not the government army.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded attacks after a new truce deal was flatly rejected by the militant group. Iran, in its peace negotiations with Washington, has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon and the war in the Gulf are inextricably linked.