US-Iran war news LIVE: Airstrikes intensify across West Asia; US says technical talks with Iran to continue
US-Iran war news LIVE: The US launched fresh strikes targeting Iran early on Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Washington's regional allies in an exchange
US-Iran war news LIVE: The US launched fresh strikes targeting Iran early on Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Washington's regional allies in an exchange of fire that threatened the interim deal that was intended to help end the war in the Middle East. The back-and-forth attacks have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire deal, which was signed on 17 June. However, the attacks on Thursday appeared to intensify, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeted Kuwait and Qatar. US says technical talks to continue A US official on Thursday (local time) said that Washington is continuing to pursue technical talks with Tehran despite two days of clashes that threatened to shatter an already fragile ceasefire and throw the Middle Eastern region once again into a renewed military confrontation.
The official asserted that the US is still committed to finding a solution to end the war with Iran. Amid the latest strikes, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said the ceasefire was "over," but added that he would not prevent negotiations from going ahead. Talks between the two sides were put off this week as the Islamic Republic held days of funeral rites for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israel military campaign. Trump spoke with the Israeli PM As tensions between the US and Iran escalated once again, Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday regarding Turkiye and Washington's moves in the Persian Gulf. The US launched new airstrikes against Tehran hours after Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop.
Iran buries slain Supreme Leader Tehran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli military campaign in the Islamic Republic in February, was buried at the Imam Reza shrine, the country's holiest shrine, in his hometown of Mashhad in eastern Iran. State media IRIB reported that the "body of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution was buried in the memorial hall of the Imam Reza shrine." As mourners waited outside and listened to prayers, Khamenei's successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, was absent from the funeral. Iran says it hit US military targets in Gulf On Thursday, Tehran's armed forces launched attacks on US military infrastructure in Gulf states in response to Washington's strikes on the Islamic Republic's southern coastal and eastern provinces, further eroding a three-week-old ceasefire.
The BriefWire