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

Cairo — The United States and Iran each launched missile barrages on Thursday, marking another round of reciprocal strikes that dampened hopes for a swift de‑escalation. After a brief lull, the risk of a return to full‑scale war resurfaced, with combatants warning that the fighting could draw in neighboring states. Jordan announced on Thursday that its air defenses intercepted Iranian missiles for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait reported that an attack in the country’s northwestern sector killed one person. Earlier in the week, drone strikes sparked fires aboard vessels at an Egyptian port, and Saudi Arabia said its facilities came under fire from Iran‑aligned militias operating in Iraq. The escalating exchanges highlighted the difficulty of ending a five‑month conflict that has driven up prices for fuel and other essentials, rattled the global economy, and raised concerns about U.S. weapons stockpiles needed to defend bases and allies. Although an earlier pause had fueled optimism that diplomatic talks were making headway, no public sign of progress emerged. ### The U.S. and Iran trade strikes An Iranian strike hit a Chinese company’s facility in Kuwait on Thursday, severely damaging the complex and killing a worker, Kuwaiti military officials said. The assault came just hours after Jordan’s defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran. No casualties were reported from Jordan’s interception, according to the state‑run Petra news agency, which quoted a spokesperson for the Jordanian armed forces. Both nations host U.S. troops and are American allies. The attacks followed a U.S. military statement that it had finished “a dense question of strikes against Iran,” conducted in response to an earlier Iranian rocket barrage on a U.S. base in Jordan. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after the base was targeted. U.S. Central Command said in a social‑media post that American forces struck “dozens” of targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including command centers, missile and drone launch sites, and coastal surveillance and defense installations. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that three people were killed and two wounded in an attack on Qeshm Island, located just off the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz—a vital artery for global energy supplies that has been a focal point of the confrontation. The latest barrage followed a joint U.S.–Saudi operation against Iran‑backed militias in Iraq that killed at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday. Before the latest flare‑up, mediators had voiced optimism about bringing Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table. Pakistan, which helped broker an interim agreement to halt the fighting, said on Thursday that diplomatic efforts were continuing. “The negotiations betwixt the parties are ongoing to normalize the situation, peculiarly the concern in the Strait of Hormuz, and arsenic good to de-escalate,” Pakistani foreign‑ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during a press briefing. ### Fires reported on two natural‑gas vessels at an Egyptian port Elsewhere, the British maritime security firm Ambrey said drone strikes ignited fires aboard two liquefied‑natural‑gas carriers at the Egyptian port of Damietta on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.–owned floating storage unit and a Greek‑owned tanker; no injuries were reported. The office of the Egyptian prime minister said preliminary investigations indicated the fires resulted from a drone. Egypt, a close U.S. partner and a regional mediator, is one of the few Middle Eastern states that has avoided direct military involvement in the war. Confirmation that Iran or its allies carried out the Damietta attack would mark a significant widening of the conflict. Asked during an Oval Office event whether Iran was behind the strikes on the vessels, Trump replied: “It’s a small much of the same.” The Damietta Port Authority later posted on Facebook that the facility was fully operational. ### The war has rattled the global economy Since Iran began threatening and firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz early in the conflict, the fighting has disrupted worldwide energy shipments, slowing traffic through the waterway to a near standstill. Much of the diplomatic effort to end the war has focused on reopening the strait, through which roughly 20 % of global oil and natural‑gas shipments travel in peacetime. The strait remains effectively closed, and in recent weeks fighting elsewhere has further strained energy supplies. Saudi Arabia has accused Iraqi militias of using drones to strike its oil facilities over the past few days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran‑backed faction—the Houthi rebels in Yemen—claimed responsibility for attacks on Saudi energy assets as part of a separate but related campaign. The Houthis have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping and threatened to sever another vital Middle Eastern trade lane, the Bab el‑Mandeb strait linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. That route grew more important during the war as Saudi Arabia used it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones at oil facilities used to move crude across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The rebels asserted the assault was in response to a Saudi drone they said had entered Yemeni airspace. Satellite imagery from Planet Labs, analyzed by The Associated Press, showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil‑processing complex, which can handle about seven million barrels of crude per day. Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately on Wednesday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two individuals familiar with the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly. They said the Saudi decision to join the U.S. strikes against Iraqi militias aimed to signal to Iran that the kingdom would not tolerate attacks on its oil industry or other critical infrastructure. At the same time, the defense minister emphasized to Trump and Vance that Saudi Arabia seeks a de‑escalation of the conflict and a return to negotiations between Washington and Tehran. *Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Qassim Abdul‑Zahra in Baghdad, and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.*