U.S., Iran exchange fire as Hormuz tensions persist

The U.S. military said it shot down four Iranian attack drones that had been launched toward the strategic waterway, which Iran has effectively shut down since early in the war and which the U.S. has made sporadic efforts to pry open.

The military said it also struck what it called surveillance and radar sites along Iran’s coast to diminish Tehran’s ability to launch further attacks.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is responsible for defending the regime and is enforcing the chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, said the confrontation began when it opened fire to stop four oil tankers from transiting the waterway without its permission.

After the U.S. attacked Iranian communications towers, Iran fired at Kuwait and Bahrain, the Revolutionary Guard said.

The U.S. military said it shot down seven Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at the two allies. Kuwait and Bahrain each issued alerts that they were under attack early Saturday morning.

The skirmishing was the latest outbreak of violence under a ceasefire struck two months ago by the U.S. and Iran. Saturday’s attack was the fourth on Kuwait in recent days.

Iran launched 30 missiles and drones at the Gulf state in the middle of the week, damaging its airport, killing one person and injuring dozens. That exchange came after the U.S. disabled an empty oil tanker that tried to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports.

President Trump has shown a reluctance to restart the war unless the lower-level attacks kill American troops. Instead he is pursuing a memorandum of understanding with Iran that would extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran is pushing for access to billions of dollars in now-frozen cash and less than stringent commitments on its nuclear program as the price of a deal. Trump has been reluctant to meet those demands.

Mediators in the talks said they remain stalled over those issues two weeks after Trump said a deal was almost ready. The president is eager to complete an agreement, however.