Blasts reported in Iran as US launches new wave of strikes

The US launched a new wave of strikes against Iran for a sixth night in a row, its military says, as the two sides continue to battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command (Centcom) said on Thursday that the attacks were intended to “further degrade Iranian military capabilities”.

Iran’s state media reported US missiles struck close to the Gulf island of Qeshm, near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr – the site of a nuclear power plant.

It comes after the two sides exchanged strikes overnight, with the renewed hostilities further straining their preliminary deal to end the war.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump remained open to talks with Iran.

“The president will hold them accountable when they turn their back on the words that they state to the United States. But he is always open to diplomacy at the very same time,” she told reporters.

She said Iran has expressed it still wants to make a deal with the US, adding: “We’re talking to them, but again, the president is not going to allow them to fire on ships in the strait without paying a consequence for that.”

As attacks escalate, the Strait of Hormuz – a critical waterway off Iran’s coast that Tehran effectively blocked in response to US-Israeli strikes – has remained shut.

Earlier on Thursday, Tehran said it had struck US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, while the US said it had inflicted a six-hour wave of strikes on multiple locations in the strait.

Those exchanges came after Trump warned Iran it had “better behave” or face further military action should Iran not return to negotiations.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state media that Tehran had “no reason” to abide by any agreement that did not benefit the country.

He added that Iran’s national security depended on maintaining what he described as “Iranian arrangements” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday praised Iran for freeing Dena Karari, a US detainee that he said had been “wrongfully detained” in December 2024.

“The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Karari’s attorney Jared Genser said she was on her way back to the US.

However, Iran’s judiciary on Thursday said that no US prisoner had been released or exchanged from its prisons, Iranian state media reported.