Iran, US Trade Strikes In Blow To Middle East Peace Talks

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks early on Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to US airstrikes, amid threats by both sides that may jeopardize peace talks envisaged to end the war.

Iran has threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war if the US continues its attacks, the Associated Press reported.

US President Donald Trump volleyed a threatening message in a Truth Social post late on Saturday, saying Washington may be forced to take a sweeping military action against Iran.

Trump’s posted: “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

He claimed the US aircraft “just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites,” as a retaliatory measure for Iran’s violation of ceasefire.

On Saturday, Iran claimed it launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain and a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately as a response to overnight airstrikes by the US forces, AP reported.

The US and Iran have accused each other of violating last week’s agreement, aimed at bringing an end to the war that dragged on to more than 100 days.

Iran insists that vessels passing the Strait of Hormuz must follow its directives and seeks to start charging a transit fees for passage through the Hormuz Strait. The US opposes charges on shipping traffic.

At the core of the latest escalation is the issue of US efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Iran’s oversight. The move has provoked Iran, resulting in strikes and counterstrikes in the region.

A maritime body overseen by the US Navy had claimed on Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic, irking Iran.

Iran claims it alone has the right to dictate terms in the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint through which a a fifth of the world’s energy supplies transited before the Middle East conflict began late in February.

The Hormuz Strait is in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, but was treated as an international passageway before the war erupted.

Recently, Iranian attacks were reported on vessels passing through a route on the Omani side of the strait.

The terms of a ceasefire are still under discussion between the US and Iranian negotiators. Issues including shipping traffic through the Strait and removal of the US naval blockades and sanctions are being deliberated.

The sides have 60 days to chalk out a final agreement that would also address the contentious issues of how to deal with Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Tehran claims is for peaceful purposes. The US wants Iran’s nuclear capabilities quashed for ever.

Since Saturday, there have been multiple reports of Iranian attacks emerging from the Gulf.

Kuwaiti said its military intercepted Iranian drones and missiles Sunday morning, just after the US strikes were reported on Iranian facilities.

Kuwait hosts a major US army base, which is the key reason why Iran has repeatedly targeted it. Bahrain also reported that Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport. It released photos of a completely destroyed top floor of a building with eight floors.

Bahrain also has come under repeated attacks by Tehran as it hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.