Washington, June 11:
The United States launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran after blaming Tehran for the crash of an American attack helicopter, and Iran fired back at countries in the region – another escalation that threatened to derail efforts to end the war.
Hours after Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan came under Iranian fire, US President Donald Trump posted on his his Truth Social platform that Iran was taking “too long to negotiate a deal” and that “now they will have to pay the price.”
It wasn’t clear what exactly that would mean, but the back-and-forth strikes on Wednesday again raised the question of how much pressure the deal can take before it cracks. The exchange of fire was the second time this week that such strikes have tested the ceasefire after Iran and Israel targeted each other on Monday.
Trump has repeatedly vacillated between expressing optimism over the talks and warning that he was ready to return to all-out war. Iran, meanwhile, has proved resilient despite having faced weeks of heavy bombing, betting that its ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz gives it a strong bargaining chip.
Both countries seem to be looking for a way to end the conflict, if they can manage to sell it as a win-win. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing much more difficult goals:
the collapse of Iran’s theocratic government, the elimination of its nuclear program, and the destruction of the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. That will make compromise much harder.
Netanyahu posted on X around the same time as Trump, again insisting that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon and defending Israel’s decisions to attack the Islamic Republic in the past.
In the latest strikes, US fighter jets targeted “air defence, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites,” the military’s Central Command said. Iran acknowledged strikes around Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, but gave no details on the damage.
“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.
Iran’s top diplomat vowed that there would be a response, and Tehran later claimed attacks in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. Jordan said it shot down five incoming missiles, which Iran said targeted the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.