The US and Iran have exchanged strikes across the Middle East for a second consecutive day, further straining an already shaky ceasefire agreed between the two countries in April.

📻 Breaking It Down

US Central Command (Centcom) said it had completed a wave of “self-defense strikes” targeting military, surveillance and radar sites in southern Iran.

The attack came hours after President Donald Trump vowed US forces would hit Iran “hard”, and that Tehran had taken “too long to make a deal” to permanently end the war.

In response, Iran launched a round of strikes targeting US military assets in countries across the region.

📌 What You Need to Know

US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait came under Iranian fire for a second day in a row, while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it fired ballistic missiles at a US command centre in Jordan, according to Iranian state media.

In the latest flare-up, the IRGC also said it had hit two oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported, although there was no immediate confirmation of the strike.

That came after Iranian state media reported that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely closed to all type of vessel”. Centcom, however, said “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz”.

Oil prices rose shortly after the closure of the shipping channel and the apparent attack on the ships was announced.

Brent crude oil, seen as the global benchmark, climbed above $95 a barrel after rising by about 2% during morning trade in Asia.

Hours before the US launched its latest attack, Trump had warned: “We hit them hard yesterday and we’re going to hit them hard again today.”

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya