The US and Iran exchanged strikes early Saturday morning local time, days after conflicting reports were published regarding the status of ceasefire negotiations, UNN reports, citing CNN.
Details
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, hostilities between Israeli forces and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have escalated, as the publication points out, despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
What happened in the region:
- Strait of Hormuz: The US intercepted a wave of missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf region. US forces also conducted strikes against coastal surveillance radar stations in Iran, shooting down four attack drones, US Central Command reported. Iran fired several shots as a "warning" near the Strait of Hormuz, which "may have been related" to the movement of US naval vessels in the area, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency;
- Gulf States: Sirens were activated early Saturday morning in Kuwait and Bahrain. The Kuwaiti military said it was responding to missile and drone threats, while Bahrain urged residents to seek shelter;
- Lebanon: According to a CNN casualty count reported by the state-run National News Agency, more than 20 people were killed in strikes in the south of the country on Friday.
Other events:
- The Iranian Foreign Minister denied statements made by Lebanese President Michel Aoun in an interview with CNN that Tehran is using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its war with the US and Israel. Abbas Araghchi said, "Save Lebanon from your real enemy, Mr. President," as the publication notes, clearly referring to Israel;
- US President Donald Trump stated that he is "moving very quickly" in the war with Iran, despite initial stated timelines of four to six weeks. "I'm into my third month, you know. The Vietnam War lasted 19 years. I'm into my third month," he told NBC News;
- A senior Iranian official told CNN that a potential peace deal depends on the Trump administration's agreement to return $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and warned of the possibility of a wider war;
- Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a team of experts at a national laboratory in Tennessee on Thursday, a US official said, as the US works on nuclear negotiations with Iran. Scott Roecker, vice president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative's Nuclear Materials Security Program, explained that the lab has a history of removing highly enriched uranium.