Mediator Pakistan insisted Thursday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as Washington carried out a “heavy wave of strikes” on its foe 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.
On Thursday, 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 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 Thursday 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 Iran
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 Tehran’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.
Jordan’s army reported a new volley of Iranian missiles on Thursday morning, saying five had been shot down, causing no casualties.
The Guards confirmed the attack, saying the US “used the occupied bases in your country (Jordan) to launch an airstrike” that killed residents in Qeshm.
Kuwait’s defence ministry denounced a “heinous” Iranian attack that “targeted a building belonging to a Chinese company in the north”, killed one worker and caused severe material damage.
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.
The government confirmed on Thursday that a drone was to blame for the blaze, noting that no one had claimed responsibility.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels denied any involvement, according to rebel media.
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.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
