The US and Iran trade missile barrages as hopes dim for a quick resolution

The United States and Iran each fired barrages of missiles Thursday, as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for any quick resolution.

After a brief respite, the risk of a return to all-out war emerged once more, with the fighting threatening to engulf even more countries: Jordan said Thursday it intercepted Iranian missiles for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait said a strike in the northern part of the country killed one person. Also this week, drones caused fires on ships at an Egyptian port, and Saudi Arabia said it came under fire from Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The spiraling violence underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has sent the price of fuel and other basics soaring, jolted the world economy, and added to concerns about American stockpiles of weapons needed to defend its bases and allies. After an earlier hiatus had given hope that diplomatic efforts were moving forward, there was no public sign of progress.

The US and Iran trade strikes

An Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm’s building in Kuwait on Thursday, severely damaging the structure and killing a worker, Kuwait’s military said, hours after Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran.

No casualties were reported from Jordan’s interception, Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said, quoting the spokesman for the country’s armed forces. Both countries are U.S. allies and host American troops.

The attacks came after the U.S. military said it completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran,” conducted in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted the base.

The military's Central Command said in a social media post that the U.S. struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm, which lies just off the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial waterway for the world's energy supplies that has been at the center of the conflict.

The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday.

Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table.

Pakistan, which had helped broker an interim agreement to end the war, said Thursday that diplomatic efforts were continuing.

“The negotiations between the parties are ongoing to normalize the situation, particularly the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and as well to de-escalate,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during a news briefing.