US and Iran exchange fresh strikes as Tehran threatens to halt talks

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, also reiterated that the war must end completely on all fronts, including in Lebanon, at his news conference in Baghdad.

“It is regrettable that Israel continues its attacks. Under the commitments set out in the agreement, the US bears direct responsibility for stopping the attacks, implementing the ceasefire, and ensuring a withdrawal from occupied areas,” he added during a news conference in Iraq.

The memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran includes a ceasefire in Lebanon. But this - as well as a new agreement signed between the governments of Israel and Lebanon signed on Friday - have done little to reduce clashes in southern Lebanon.

Israel has said its forces will remain in southern Lebanon as they seek to degrade the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Interference in Iran’s management of the Strait of Hormuz will escalate tensions, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, amid signs of ships evading Tehran-controlled routes.

Speaking at a news conference during a visit to Iraq, Araghchi said that under the agreement with the United States reached earlier this month “and once obstacles are removed, the Strait of Hormuz will return to its pre-war capacity within 30 days under Iran’s exclusive management.”

“The incidents and clashes in the Strait of Hormuz over the past two nights are evidence of this,” Araghchi said, referring to strikes by the US on Iranian coastal installations after drone attacks on two merchant ships close to Hormuz since Thursday.

Araghchi did not specify the “parallel arrangements” but a growing number of ships have sought to evade Iranian control of the passage by taking a southern route close to the Omani coast.

What’s in the agreement? The ceasefire agreement stipulates that Iran will make “arrangements using its best efforts” to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Ensuring unobstructed transit was Iran’s main concession to the US.

However, a vaguely worded article in the agreement said Iran and Oman would work together to “define the future administration” of the waterway, effectively giving Tehran a formal role in managing it.

Kuwait’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has condemned what it said were “repeated, heinous” Iranian attacks on Sunday as a “flagrant violation” of Kuwait’s sovereignty, describing them as a “clear breach of international law” which threaten to derail international efforts to reduce tensions in the region.

The Kuwaiti army said it intercepted two ballistic missiles with no damage or casualties.

Bahrain on Sunday said Iran had targeted it with “a number of ballistic missiles and drones,” an attack the Foreign Ministry called a “dangerous escalation.”

The attack shows Iran has “a deliberate policy and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression against Bahrain’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens and residents,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier it targeted US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for US airstrikes on Iranian sites Saturday. Bahrain had activated sirens multiple times early Sunday local time and told residents to head to a safe place.

Bahrain said Iran’s attacks constitute a threat to all states in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which also includes Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, pointing to a joint defense agreement among them.

Meanwhile, the General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force said its air defenses had “successfully intercepted and destroyed a number of the treacherous Iranian aerial attacks.”

It urged residents not to approach debris or suspicious objects that may be found in the wake of the Iranian attack.

All branches of Bahrain’s armed forces are at the highest level of alert, it said.

A damaged residential building in Muharraq Governorate, Bahrain, on Sunday.

A residential building in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain suffered heavy damage in an Iranian attack overnight, its Interior Ministry said Sunday.

No one was killed, the ministry said.

It posted pictures of what appears to be the penthouse of a multistory residential block in ruins, with missing walls and collapsed ceilings, in the tiny country’s Muharraq governorate.

Iran on Sunday local time said US airstrikes on the country a day earlier were a “clear violation” of the June 18 ceasefire memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

Earlier, US Central Command said US Navy and Air Force jets struck 10 Iranian military targets in and near the Strait of Hormuz after what it said was an Iranian attack on a commercial ship in the strait.

After those US strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms its determination to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity against U.S. military aggression,” the Foreign Ministry statement said Sunday.

Iran's Shoja Khalilzadeh looks dejected after his goal gets disallowed after a VAR review during the World Cup 2026 match between Iran and Egypt in Seattle, Washington, on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Iran’s soccer team has been eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, missing the 32-team knockout stages by one spot in heartbreaking fashion.

It appeared Iran would advance as one of the top eight third-place teams among the 12 four-team groups in the competition after Algeria took a 3-2 lead over Austria in stoppage time on Saturday night in Group J play. But Austria equalized seconds later on the match’s final play, securing second place in the group and dropping Algeria to third.

The point Algeria picked up for the draw gave them four for the tournament, one more than Iran gained in their three matches in Group G, and dropped Iran to the ninth spot among the third place teams, one shy of making the round of 32.

It’s been a difficult World Cup for the Iranians, with the ongoing war forcing multiple difficulties on Team Melli. Some members of the team’s traveling delegation did not receiving visas to enter the United States, and the team was forced to enter the US from Mexico a day before each of their first two games and then had to leave almost immediately afterward.

The US government eventually softened its stance, allowing the Iranians to enter the US two days before their third group stage match, in which they tied Egypt, their third tie in three games.

Iran targeted American military facilities in the Middle East after the US launched more strikes on Iranian sites near the Strait of Hormuz. And in Lebanon, Israeli forces attacked a southern town, after Israel agreed to withdraw some troops from the area.

A timeline of the recent escalation:

Thursday

Iran attacks a Singapore-flagged container ship near the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump describes the move as a “foolish violation” of the initial agreement to end the war.

Friday

The US military conducts strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, targeting Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites.

Saturday

The US detects “a couple of drones” as Iran says it launched strikes on American military targets in the Middle East, but those drones didn’t reach their target, a US official says.

Hours later, the US military conducts more strikes against Iranian targets “in direct response to continued Iranian aggression,” according to the US Central Command.

Iran then launches missiles and drones at US facilities in neighboring countries including Kuwait and Bahrain, Reuters reports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying. There have been no US casualties or major damage to the facilities, Reuters reports, citing a US official.

Meanwhile in Lebanon, airstrikes hit the southern town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, a day after Israel signed an agreement to withdraw troops from some areas. The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed Hezbollah militants in the Nabatieh area of southern Lebanon and dismantled a rocket launcher, according to a Telegram statement.

Why it matters: The attacks are straining a US-Iran agreement signed just earlier this month. The agreement was meant to expand on the ceasefire and resume normal maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has threatened more military action if Tehran continues to launch strikes. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps argued that the US strikes violate the ceasefire and “will result in the complete halt of all diplomatic processes,” reported Reuters.

A US sailor stands aft lookout watch aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush while sailing in the Arabian Sea, on June 21.

President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Saturday, saying the US may be forced to use more military action if Tehran continues to launch strikes.

Trump said that Iran violated the ceasefire agreement and that US aircraft struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, as well as coastal radar sites.

“It is very possible that they will never learn! There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The president warned that Iran “will no longer exist” should the US use more military action.