{"id":485955,"date":"2026-06-06T09:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/485955\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T09:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:51:11","slug":"gulf-countries-targeted-by-iran-after-exchange-of-fire-with-us-in-latest-threat-to-fragile-ceasefire-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/485955\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf countries targeted by Iran after exchange of fire with US, in latest threat to fragile ceasefire \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US<\/a> and Iran<\/a> exchanged a series of strikes on Saturday morning, in the latest flare-up to threaten the ceasefire in the Middle East war.<\/p>\n

The US military said it shot down four Iranian drones that were launched toward the Strait of Hormuz<\/a> and struck coastal surveillance radar sites in response. Iran followed hours later, saying it targeted US bases in the region, with Kuwait and Bahrain both issuing air raid alerts.<\/p>\n

It was the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks that have strained the tenuous ceasefire in the war and harmed efforts to reach a deal to extend the truce.<\/p>\n

US central command (Centcom) said early on Saturday that Iranian attack drones \u201cposed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,\u201d while the strikes on radar installations were to \u201cdefend against further attacks\u201d. <\/p>\n

The US military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran\u2019s chokehold on the strait \u2013 a crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments \u2013 which has sent energy prices spiking.<\/p>\n

Hours later, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted \u201cenemy bases\u201d in the Gulf, after the US strikes on Sirik and Qeshm Island.<\/p>\n

Kuwait\u2019s military said early on Saturday it was responding to \u201chostile\u201d missile and drone attacks, days after a strike on the country\u2019s international airport killed one and wounded dozens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran fired seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain\u201d, Centcom said, adding that six were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Iran reaffirms support for Hizbullah with wider peace deal in doubtOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,\u201d Centcom said.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, US president Donald Trump<\/a> told reporters \u201cthe situation with Iran seems to be going quite well\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"USUS president Donald Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has delivered a shock to markets. Photograph: Haiyun Jiang\/The New York Times <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it\u2019s going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it\u2019s a piece of paper or the very tough way,\u201d Trump said at an event with farmers in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Trump is under pressure to find a way out of the war, which has delivered a shock to markets and proven unpopular at home as midterm elections loom. US and Iranian negotiators have for weeks been working to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. But both sides have continued to call for changes in the deal, with neither side appearing ready to compromise.<\/p>\n

Asked on Friday why it was taking so long, Trump told NBC it was because \u201cit\u2019s a very hard thing\u201d for Iran, citing their \u201cgreat independence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things they never thought they\u2019d be doing that they\u2019re going to have to do. They\u2019ve got no choice, and it takes a little while,\u201d he said in the interview.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Iran insists any US-Israel ceasefire must cover conflict in LebanonOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In other comments on Friday, Trump said Iran still has more than 20 per cent of its missiles left, a figure for the stockpile that was higher than that of 18 per cent which Trump gave last month. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran\u2019s ability to wage war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage wise, maybe 21, 22 per cent of their missiles,\u201d Trump told NBC News in an interview.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn Israeli drone attack targeted the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on June 5th, 2026. Photograph: Abbas Fakih\/AFP\/Getty <\/p>\n

His administration has also touted the latest ceasefire agreed to this week by the Lebanese government and Israel after US-brokered talks in Washington. That is despite Iranian-backed Hizbullah \u2013 who were not party to the talks \u2013 rejecting the agreement and new attacks being launched by both sides.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military on Friday struck multiple parts of southern Lebanon and issued evacuation warnings to a number of villages, including one that has sheltered thousands of people displaced by the fighting.<\/p>\n

The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swathes of the south, also threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon. \u2013 Guardian, with Associated Press and AFP<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Inside southern Lebanon\u2019s temporary graveyards: \u2018People are dying day by day. No one is batting an eye\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The US and Iran exchanged a series of strikes on Saturday morning, in the latest flare-up to threaten…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10748,969,42,11829,43,150177,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":["post-485955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-binyamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-news","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}