US and Iran exchange strikes for second day, as ceasefire appears close to collapse

Trump also told reporters that the US has been taking ‘millions of barrels of oil’ out of Iran. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Pool/Aaron Schwartz - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Trump also told reporters that the US has been taking ‘millions of barrels of oil’ out of Iran. Photograph: Aaron Schwartz/Pool/Aaron Schwartz - Pool/CNP/Shutterstock US and Iran exchange strikes for second day, as ceasefire appears close to collapse Explosions reported across Iran after Donald Trump vowed to ‘hit them hard again’, with Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan targeted – live updates The US launched a new round of airstrikes on Iran into Thursday morning after Donald Trump warned Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations, prompting Iran to respond with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. The new US assault across a range of Iranian cities came as efforts to negotiate an end to the war again appeared stuck, with Iran insisting it would maintain its chokehold on the strait of Hormuz. The American attack appeared more intense and wider than the day before, but Iran released no information about what was hit. Explosions were reported around Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern areas along the strait of Hormuz. Before the strikes, Trump had promised to “hit them hard again” as a two-month-old ceasefire appears close to collapse. Kuwait closed its airspace because of the Thursday morning attack, without giving details of any damage. Jordan didn’t acknowledge the attack, though the US embassy in Amman warned about it. And Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens without mentioning possible damage there. The third back-and-forth strikes this week have tested a shaky two-month ceasefire. The first were attacks between Iran and Israel on Sunday into Monday, followed . The two days of strikes followed the downing of a US Apache helicopter over the strait of Hormuz, which Trump has blamed on Iran. “The strikes are in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression,” US Central Command said in a statement. Trump has accused negotiators in Tehran of “playing us for suckers” – a day after repeating claims that a peace deal was imminent. “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today,” the US president told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Talks to turn the ceasefire into a durable peace have been stalling for weeks, with periodic flare-ups as both sides continued to launch limited strikes and trade blame for violating the truce.