US and Iran report latest strikes around Strait of Hormuz

The United States and Iran have struck each other’s military sites around the Persian Gulf on May 31 with American sites in Kuwait allegedly struck.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had launched self-defence strikes in response to aggressive Iranian actions, which it said included a US drone shot down over international waters, British state media BBC reported.

The military said it had conducted strikes on May 30 and May 31 on Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones at Goruk and on Qeshm Island, hitting air defences, a ground control station and two drones it said posed a clear threat to ships transiting regional waters.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted the air base used by US forces for an attack on a communications tower on Sirik Island in the Persian Gulf near the coast.

In a statement, the IRGC public relations office said that following a US attack on a communications mast on Sirik Island in Hormozgan province, aerospace force units had struck the air base from which the assault originated and destroyed the intended targets.

The aerospace force warned that any repeat of US aggression would draw a completely different response, holding what it called the aggressor American regime responsible.

Iran added that its response would be completely different if US aggression was repeated, according to IRGC remarks reported by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

Kuwait's military said on June 1 it was confronting hostile missile and drone attacks using its air-defence systems, without specifying where the interceptions were taking place.

Iran targeted an air base in Kuwait last week in response to earlier US strikes, which it said were carried out to prevent Iranian boats and missile strikes from laying mines around the shipping channel.

The exchange follows the failure of negotiations to advance over the weekend, with US media reporting that President Donald Trump had requested changes to the terms of a proposed deal.

Iran's chief negotiator said on May 31 that Tehran would not agree to any deal unless Iranian rights were fully secured.

A ceasefire took effect on April 8, and Trump has repeatedly suggested the two sides are close to a permanent deal, though none has been reached. The latest terms include a 60-day cessation of violence, a call to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and a framework to restart negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, according to CBS News.

About one-fifth of global oil and LNG shipments usually pass through the channel, with the de facto trade embargo pushing up fuel prices worldwide.