The United States and Iran exchanged air attacks on Thursday for a second consecutive day, with US President Donald Trump warning of further strikes unless Tehran agrees to an immediate peace deal.
The latest escalation followed the downing of a US Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, triggering a series of retaliatory attacks inside Iran and against US military installations across the region.
The renewed hostilities have posed the most serious challenge yet to a fragile ceasefire reached in April, dimming hopes for a quick resolution to the conflict that began in late February with large-scale joint US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.
The US military said its latest operations targeted “military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran” in response to what it described as Tehran’s “unwarranted and continued aggression.”