US says Iranian radar and command and control sites struck over the weekend<\/p>\n
US central command (Centcom) has said that it struck targets in Iran over the weekend, in a statement that came just minutes after Kuwait<\/a> announced it was under attack.<\/p>\n Labelling their actions \u201cself-defence\u201d, the US said it hit Iranian \u201cradar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran<\/a> and Qeshm Island\u201d.<\/p>\n Centcom said the attack was in response to \u201caggressive Iranian actions\u201d, including the \u201cshootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters.\u201d<\/p>\n The US strikes mark the third time that the ceasefire between Iran and America has been violated since it was agreed in early April. On both previous occasions, Tehran and Washington played down the significance of the exchange of strikes and the truce was able to continue.<\/p>\n The latest action comes amid a flurry of diplomatic wrangling between the Trump administration<\/a> and Iran\u2019s leadership to secure a lasting ceasefire and return shipping to the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.51 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Oil prices rose about 2% in Asia on Monday, as the lack of progress in negotiations between the US and Iran<\/a> kept traders on edge.<\/p>\n The fresh attacks between the US and Iran nudged Brent up 2.1% to $93.02 a barrel, while US crude added 2.6% to $89.61.<\/p>\n Trump is under pressure to reopen the strait of Hormuz and get petrol prices down ahead of the November midterm elections, as US voters show increasing frustration over rising prices. At the same time, he faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party<\/a> over any concessions to Tehran.<\/p>\n The two sides remain at odds on several other issues, such as Tehran\u2019s demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenues frozen in foreign banks.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Without a sustained diplomatic agreement \u2013 and with tensions in the strait of Hormuz still high \u2013 we\u2019re likely to see continued violations of the ceasefire, says Danny Citrinowicz, the former head of an Iran branch of Israeli military intelligence.<\/p>\n Citrinowicz, now a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, says that neither the US, nor Iran<\/a>, appear to be seeking a return to open war, but risk \u201ca crisis neither side originally intended\u201d if these confrontations and miscalculations continue.<\/p>\n double quotation markIn other words, the greatest danger may not be a deliberate decision to go to war, but a gradual escalation driven by recurring incidents in an increasingly volatile environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The exchange of strikes between the US and Iran<\/a> reflects the fragility of the current ceasefire, which has seen repeated violations even as American and Iranian officials try to negotiate a deal to extend it.<\/p>\n Iran has maintained its chokehold on the strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies as a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. The US continues to enforce its own blockade on the strait, as it pressures Tehran to reach an agreement.<\/p>\n A drone view shows vessels anchored at the strait of Hormuz on Sunday. Photograph: Reuters<\/p>\n Both sides insist that they are continuing to negotiate, particularly over Iran\u2019s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Donald Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said the deal had not been finalised.<\/p>\n A trickle of ships have made it out of the strait, but pressure continues on global energy supplies, as well as chemical fertiliser which has led to fears of food shortages. The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilisers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Iran ‘really wants to make a deal’, says Trump<\/p>\n Donald Trump has said \u201cIran really wants to make a deal\u201d, in a new post on Truth Social, while also taking aim at critics of his efforts to secure an agreement with Tehran.<\/p>\n double quotation markDon\u2019t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively \u201cchirping,\u201d at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does!<\/p>\n The US presidents post makes no mention of the attack on Kuwait<\/a>, or the US strikes on Iran over the weekend.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.08 EDT<\/p>\n European leaders have condemned Israel\u2019s expanding incursion into Lebanon, after its military captured the medieval Beaufort castle<\/a> and Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to push even deeper into the country.<\/p>\n France\u2019s president Emmanuel Macron called for an end to fighting, saying \u201cnothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon\u201d. The country\u2019s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, has requested a meeting of the UN security council for Monday.<\/p>\n The foreign ministers of the UK and Germany joined France in condemning the new operation. Britain\u2019s Yvette Cooper called for the ceasefire that has been in place between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah<\/a> since April to be respected. The US-brokered truce to halt the fighting between both sides has rarely been observed.<\/p>\n Netanyahu has called Sunday\u2019s capture of Beaufort castle a \u201cdramatic shift\u201d in the campaign against Hezbollah<\/a>. Israeli forces used the Beaufort castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shaqif, as a base during their previous two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.<\/p>\n Lebanon map<\/a><\/p>\n The castle offers views across Lebanon and into northern Israel<\/a>. It was built as a crusader castle around the 12th century and later occupied by Saladin\u2019s Jerusalem army, the Ottomans, the French and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.<\/p>\n Netanyahu noted the historic significance of the castle, which the military first seized in 1982, calling it a \u201csymbol of a heroic battle for our fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n But some experts have questioned the strategic significance of the capture, and said its capture amounted to little more than a public relations coup.<\/p>\n The military\u2019s presence there will not solve the issue with Hezbollah, Orna Mizrahi, a former deputy director in Israel\u2019s national security council, told the Associated Press. \u201cWe are damaging them in the operations, but in parallel we need to pursue a political and diplomatic solution,\u201d Mizrahi said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Israel has said an \u201caerial target that was fired from Lebanese territory\u201d was intercepted early on Monday.<\/p>\n The IDF said the interception happened after alerts sound across \u201cseveral areas in northern Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel has in recent days expanded its incursion into southern Lebanon, as part of its ongoing war against Iran-backed Hezbollah<\/a>. The continuing operations have displaced more than a million people and left thousands dead, and come despite a nominal ceasefire that has been in place between the two sides since April.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In its Monday morning statement announcing the weekend strikes on Iran<\/a>, US central command (Centcom) said that the action was in response to the \u201cshootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone\u201d.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had shot down an MQ-1 drone over its \u201cterritorial waters\u201d.<\/p>\n An undated handout picture of a MQ-1 Predator drone. Photograph: Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt\/EPA<\/p>\n The statement, reported by Iranian media, described the drone as \u201chostile\u201d, and said it was shot down after it crossed over into Iran\u2019s territorial waters.<\/p>\n Centcom said on Monday that the US drone was operating \u201cover international waters.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The latest exchange of fire between the US and Iran marks the third major violation of a ceasefire that was agreed by both sides in April<\/a>.<\/p>\n That deal was reached after almost six weeks of violent conflict that began when the US and Israel<\/a> launched strikes on Iran in February, killing the country\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n Since then, the truce has largely held, while the Trump administration<\/a> has used a blockade on ships in the strait of Hormuz to pressure Iran into agreeing to a more permanent peace agreement that would reopen the vital waterway and address concerns over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n However on 7 May, the US and Iran exchanged fire<\/a>, testing the strength of the ceasefire. Iran accused the US of violations by targeting two ships in the strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian areas, while the US insisted it struck in retaliation, after three US destroyers were targeted.<\/p>\n Then last week, the US said it had targeted<\/a> missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay mines.<\/p>\n On both previous occasions, the US insisted that the action carried out was limited, and did not indicate the ceasefire with Iran<\/a> was over.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has said it targeted an airbase used by the US to launch an attack on Sirik Island in southern Iran<\/a>, according to a statement in Iranian media.<\/p>\n Sirik Island is located in the strait of Hormuz. The IRGC said the US was targeting a telecoms tower on the island.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More from the Kuwaiti army, which has announced that its air defences are intercepting missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe General Staff of the Army wishes to advise that any sounds of explosions heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting these hostile attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuna, the state news agency, reported that air raid sirens were ringing across the Gulf nation.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>US says Iranian radar and command and control sites struck over the weekend<\/p>\n US central command (Centcom) has said that it struck targets in Iran over the weekend, in a statement that came just minutes after Kuwait<\/a> announced it was under attack.<\/p>\n Labelling their actions \u201cself-defence\u201d, the US said it hit Iranian \u201cradar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk, Iran<\/a> and Qeshm Island\u201d.<\/p>\n Centcom said the attack was in response to \u201caggressive Iranian actions\u201d, including the \u201cshootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters.\u201d<\/p>\n The US strikes mark the third time that the ceasefire between Iran and America has been violated since it was agreed in early April. On both previous occasions, Tehran and Washington played down the significance of the exchange of strikes and the truce was able to continue.<\/p>\n The latest action comes amid a flurry of diplomatic wrangling between the Trump administration<\/a> and Iran\u2019s leadership to secure a lasting ceasefire and return shipping to the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.51 EDT<\/p>\n Summary<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to the Guardian\u2019s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The Kuwaiti military has said that the country\u2019s air defences are currently intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks, after the US said it conducted strikes on radar and control sites in Iran over the weekend. Kuwaiti state media reported that sirens were sounding across the country on Monday morning.<\/p>\n Minutes after Kuwait reported coming under attack, US central command (Centcom) said it had conducted \u201cstrikes on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones\u201d over the weekend.<\/p>\n double quotation markThe measured and deliberate strikes occurred on Saturday and Sunday in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters. U.S. fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuwait was one of a number of Gulf countries to face weeks of reprisal attacks from Iran, after the US and Israel<\/a> launched their war in February. A ceasefire reached between the US and Iran in April has since largely held.<\/p>\n