Pakistan says US-Iran talks ongoing amid fresh strikes
· RTE.ieMediator Pakistan insisted that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as the US carried out a "heavy wave of strikes" on Iran in retaliation for fresh attacks targeting Jordan.
The last two days have seen Saudi Arabia join the US in striking militant groups in Iraq, while Egypt has come under fire for the first time with a drone attack at a Mediterranean port, leading its president to warn that the Middle East conflict is facing a serious escalation.
Yesterday, Jordan reported intercepting Iranian missiles for a second day running, while Kuwait said an Iranian strike that hit a building belonging to a Chinese company killed one person.
The return to direct hostilities followed a brief pause in fighting meant to give talks a boost.
"Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on (the) Strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters.
Pakistan had helped to broker a deal between the warring sides laying the groundwork for negotiations on a permanent resolution, and Mr Andrabi said it was doing its "utmost to bring all parties back" to technical talks under the agreement.
Previous talks following an April truce stalled, with the ceasefire collapsing earlier this month and Iran again slamming shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil and gas.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that two oil tankers attempting to transit the strait with US support turned back after one of them caught fire.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it had set up a maritime defence alliance of 14 regional countries to secure navigation around the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The move comes after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said last week they were imposing a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia and claimed attacks targeting Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.
The narrow maritime artery has been a critical waterway for delivering vast quantities of Saudi crude to the international market, after energy exports were choked off by the US-Iran standoff in the Strait of Hormuz.
Strikes in Strait of Hormuz and Iran
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said today that they had struck two tankers attempting to pass though the strategic Strait of Hormuz under the "air escort" of the US military.
The IRGC said the "non-compliant oil tankers ... were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions".
The Guards said the tankers had attempted to pass the strait via "an undeclared route", the US-backed alternative to Tehran's designated waterway closer to its own shores.
Earlier, the US military said it had "successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran", hitting dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets including military command centres.
US President Donald Trump had vowed to hit Iran "hard" after Iran's previous attack on Jordan, its first in the region in days.
The Guards' branch in the northwestern province of Zanjan said three of its members were killed in a US attack there.
Iran's state news agency IRNA also reported hits on several cities in the southwestern Khuzestan province, as well as on Qeshm island in the Gulf.
Areas around the cities of Abadan, Shadegan, Arvandkenar and Ahvaz - all in Khuzestan - were struck, the agency said, citing provincial authorities.
Iran's military said it launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities in Kuwait.
The army said in a statement it targeted "fighter aircraft shelters, satellite communications systems and equipment storage facilities at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait".
There was no immediate comment from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
The Iranian army said the strikes came "in response to the recent aggression by the terrorist US military against our country and its brutal attack on a residential home on Qeshm Island".
Local media reported yesterday that three members of a family were killed in US strikes on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz waterway crucial for oil and gas trade.
The trade route normally carries around 20% of global oil shipments and has been effectively closed by Iran since the outbreak of the war on 28 February.
The US has carried out repeated strikes on Iran's southern coastal provinces as it seeks to weaken Iran's control over the waterway.
Egypt hit
Since it began in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the Middle East war has touched every country in the region, and some outside it.
While energy facilities elsewhere in the region have been repeatedly targeted by drones and missiles, Egypt had been spared until Wednesday, when an attack at a gas import hub sparked a fire that damaged two ships.
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The government confirmed yesterday that a drone was to blame for the blaze, noting that no one had claimed responsibility.
Yemen's Houthi rebels denied any involvement.
In a post on X, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Egypt was "an important friend and partner" and suggested the drone attack was an Israeli false-flag operation.
Egypt's government said that an inquiry was ongoing "to determine the circumstances of the incident and to take the necessary measures to preserve Egypt's interests and national security."
During a call to Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed the need for "the international community to work together to halt this escalation", according to his spokesman.
Maritime trade tracking firm Kpler identified the damaged ships as the Energos Winter storage and regasification vessel and the GasLog Salem tanker, saying they had been moved offshore after the incident.
A private security monitor, UK-based Ambrey, reported that the US-owned-and-operated floating storage vessel had been hit by at least one drone.
The authority that manages the port said it remained fully operational.