live U.S. launches fresh Iran strikes as Tehran retaliates in Gulf
The U.S. military said on Wednesday it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuw...
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly agreed an outline deal to extend their fragile ceasefire for 60 days, although the agreement still requires President Donald Trump’s approval and previous breakthroughs have failed to hold.
According to a source familiar with the talks, Washington and Tehran reached a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to prolong the truce while negotiations continue over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The development was first reported by Axios, which said talks on Tehran’s nuclear activities would take place during the proposed 60-day period.
However, the agreement is not yet finalised and uncertainty remains over whether it will survive political and military tensions that have repeatedly threatened earlier ceasefire efforts.
Oil prices fell following the reports amid hopes that the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route, could eventually reopen more fully.
Trump has repeatedly said an end to the conflict is close, but on Wednesday told reporters he was not yet satisfied with negotiations and insisted the U.S. was not considering sanctions relief, one of Iran’s main demands.
The latest diplomatic push came after Iran targeted a U.S. air base in Kuwait following U.S. strikes on what Washington described as an Iranian drone operation near Bandar Abbas.
U.S. Central Command said American forces shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station preparing to launch another. Kuwaiti forces also intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” a U.S. official told Reuters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the U.S. base responsible for the earlier strike and warned that any further attacks would trigger a “more decisive response.”
Kuwait condemned the attack as a serious escalation.
The violence marked the second major flare-up this week, underlining the fragility of the early-April ceasefire that followed months of conflict involving Iran, Israel and the U.S.
In Lebanon, Israel said it had launched strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in Tyre and Beirut, while mediator Pakistan confirmed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar would meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Friday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. warned Oman against supporting any system that could impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening penalties against any partners involved.
The U.S. says it has launched strikes on Iran after alleged attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington described the action as a response to threats against civilian shipping and a breach of the ceasefire.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran to end the conflict was "over", adding he did not want to engage with Tehran, calling the Iranian leadership "sick people".
NATO leaders are unveiling multi-billion-dollar arms deals in Ankara as President Donald Trump joins the summit, highlighting Europe's increased defence spending amid tensions over Russia and Iran, and following years of U.S. criticism of the alliance.
Typhoon Bavi churned southeast of Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, its winds easing overnight to just shy of 200 kph (124 mph), as authorities urged residents to stock up on supplies and brace for what could be the most powerful typhoon since 2024.
Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, has described fresh U.S. strikes on Iran as "absolutely necessary," in remarks at the start of the second day of the alliance's sumit in the Turkish capital Ankara.
China's technology sector is producing billion-dollar startups at its fastest pace in nearly five years, with artificial intelligence and robotics driving a new wave of investment that is reshaping the country's innovation economy.
Western Europe experienced its hottest June since records began in 2026, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The record-breaking month brought extreme heat, widespread disruption and thousands of excess deaths across parts of the continent.
South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld former President Yoon Suk Yeol's seven-year prison sentence in a case linked to his 2024 attempt to impose martial law.
Germany has reached an agreement with the U.S. to purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles and deploy them on German territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday.
Australia and India have finalised an agreement allowing Australian uranium exports for India's nuclear energy sector, expanding cooperation on clean energy, critical minerals and infrastructure as the two countries strengthen their strategic and economic partnership.
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