Iran says diplomatic exchanges with US ongoing via mediators

New violence shook the Middle East Monday as the United States announced another wave of attacks on Iran, Kuwait said it was intercepting drones and Tehran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have hit an "enemy command centre" in Syria, while Iran said diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Monday that two oil tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz "exploded and were brought to a halt".

"Late last night, two non-compliant oil tankers... attempted to enter and exit through what was described as the unsafe and hazardous southern route of the Strait of Hormuz, exploded and were brought to a halt," the Guards said in a statement, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Revolutionary Guards said that they had targeted US military aircraft stationed at Aqaba Airport in Jordan and caused "severe damage" to some of them, state media reported.

American heavy transport aircraft and command and control aircraft "were targeted with ballistic missiles, causing severe damage to a number of them", the Guards said in a statement carried by Iran's state broadcaster.

The Guards said they also hit US military targets in Kuwait, including an early-warning radar system that was "completely destroyed", in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA.

Iranian forces "completely destroyed a US early-warning radar system in a drone strike. In a separate attack, they struck an equipment and aircraft parts warehouse and an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali Al Salem Air Base, setting several drones on fire," the Guards said in the statement.

Meanwhile, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Sunday its latest strikes on Iran targeted command centers and other military facilities in a bid to prevent Tehran from attacking vessels transiting the Hormuz strait.

"CENTCOM assets targeted Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran's ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz," the US military said in a statement posted to X.

Diplomatic exchanges continue

Iran said on Monday that diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing despite US military strikes on the country.

"We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages -- without going into details -- but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

Meanwhile, US strikes hit several locations in Iran's southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant, state media reported Monday.

"A few minutes ago, several locations in Bushehr city were hit by American enemy's projectiles," said Bushehr governor Mohammad Mozaffari, as quoted by official state news agency IRNA.

US strikes overnight in northwestern Iran killed at least one person and wounded several more, state media reported Monday.

"One person was martyred and several others were injured in a terrorist and aggressive American attack on an area southwest of Tabriz on Monday morning," said Majid Farshi, head of crisis management of East Azerbaijan province, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Iran calls on IAEA to condemn strikes on under-construction nuclear site

Iran urged the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday to condemn US strikes that it said targeted the Darkhovin nuclear power plant under construction in the country's southwest.

"Iran... expects the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors and the Director General of the IAEA, who from time to time makes political statements regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, to clearly state their position on this matter in condemning the US crime," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

Iran says will not allow Hormuz strait to be used to threaten country

Iran said on Monday that it would not allow the vital Strait of Hormuz to be used by its foes to threaten the country's security, as the United States and the Islamic republic battle for the waterway's future.

"We must not allow this waterway to be misused again to threaten Iran's security and national interests," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP, adding the country was "determined to take the necessary measures" to safeguard its sovereignty.

Trump says US hitting Iran 'very hard' 

US President Donald Trump said the latest military strikes on Iran were being carried out in honour of US service members killed in recent days.

"We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honour of the, probably three, it's probably three great patriots," Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington following the World Cup final.

Trump said "we feel very badly," when asked about the military fatalities, adding that those who died were fighting so that "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."

US calls on other countries to 'step up'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the ongoing Middle East conflict, adding that other countries needed to step up pressure to protect global shipping.

"It's clear that Iran, at least some people in Iran, want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world," Rubio told reporters ahead of traveling to the Philippines for a meeting of foreign ministers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to, to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide, whether it's hardware or finances, to help carry that burden," he continued.

When asked if there was still a diplomatic off-ramp to the escalating conflict, Rubio said: "I think we're always open to diplomacy. It has to be real. It has to be a deal that they're willing to live by."

A fragile truce between Iran and the United States broke down after reported attacks by Iran on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical international waterway through which a fifth of the global oil and gas supply transited prior to the war.

"They can't have an MOU that's alive if they're violating the terms of it," Rubio said.

"What I will say is that the United States always remains open to a diplomatic solution. We've tried multiple times with Iran, and we'll continue to try."

US launches ninth night of strikes

New violence shook the Middle East early Monday as the United States announced another wave of attacks on Iran, Kuwait said it was intercepting drones and Tehran's Revolutionary Guards claimed to have hit an "enemy command centre" in Syria.

Bahrain's interior ministry also said that its air raid sirens had sounded and urged citizens and residents to head to "the nearest safe place".

US Central Command (CENTCOM) late Sunday announced it was beginning a wave of strikes on Iran for the ninth night in a row.

The attacks were aimed at "degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners" in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the post on X said.

A preliminary deal aimed at ending the war has collapsed as the foes fight to break a deadlock over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway key to the world's oil supply.

Since the start of the war on February 28, Iran has struck back by targeting US allies and military assets in its own neighborhood, and by virtually blocking the strait through which a fifth of world oil supplies transited prior to the war.

Kuwaiti air defences were "engaging hostile drone attacks following Iranian aggression", its army said early Monday. "The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks," a post on the official X account of the Kuwait Army said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had launched a "surprise attack" on an enemy command centre in Syria, in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA.

They announced "a surprise attack on the enemy special operations command centre in the Al-Tanf region of Syria in revenge for the blood of martyred soldiers of Iranshahr", a city in southeast Iran, in an IRNA statement posted on Telegram.

Iran said Sunday it had targeted two US bases in Kuwait in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks, which Tehran says have hit transport and infrastructure sites, including an under-construction nuclear power plant.

- Casualty counts -
The fresh rounds of violence came after a weekend in which the US announced three new US military fatalities and one service member missing in action.

Two were killed during Iranian missile and drone attacks on Jordan Friday, while another service member died in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone, CENTCOM said.

President Donald Trump said Sunday the latest US strikes on Iran "hit them very hard again tonight" in honor of the American fatalities.

The deaths brought to 17 the confirmed number of American military fatalities since the US and Israel launched the war with a wave of strikes on Iranian targets on February 28.

That toll is dwarfed by Iran's reported casualties. Its health ministry said Friday that 50 people had been killed in recent fighting and more than 500 hurt.

The renewed violence was initially sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iran closed the conduit for oil and gas shipments after the war broke out, and control over it has become leverage in its negotiations with Washington, which has reimposed its own blockade on Iranian ports.

On Sunday, the Revolutionary Guards said two ships attempting to transit the strait were stopped.

"Four violating ships, with the mischief and support of American terrorists...intended to disrupt and exit the Strait of Hormuz via an unsafe route, two of which had an accident and were stopped in place," the Guards said, adding that the other two ships abandoned their journey.

Hope for a political settlement to the war has dimmed, though mediators have attempted to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

Iran's central military commander, Ali Abdollahi, warned that further US aggression would face a "decisive and devastating response", according to a statement carried by state television on Sunday.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the United States had attacked the unfinished Darkhovin nuclear power plant in the country's southwest, calling it "an aggressive and brutal act contrary to international law".

The UN's nuclear watchdog said it was looking into the report, noting the plant "contained no nuclear material when last visited by the IAEA". Nonetheless, IAEA director Rafael Grossi reiterated his "call for military restraint in the vicinity of all nuclear-related sites", the agency said in a post on X.

Another US soldier killed in Iraq

A US service member died during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone in northern Iraq, the military said Sunday.

The death on Saturday takes to 17 the confirmed number of American military fatalities since the US and Israel launched the war with a wave of strikes on Iranian targets on February 28.

Two US service members were killed on Friday in Jordan, and unidentified remains have been found at the location, the US Central Command added Sunday. 

Explosions heard in Manama

Explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital Manama on Monday morning after air raid sirens were triggered, AFP journalists said.

"The siren has been sounded, citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," the Gulf state's interior ministry wrote on X.