US and Iran trade strikes despite World Cup visas - Taipei Times

New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire, even as US officials confirmed that Iranian soccer players had received visas for the FIFA World Cup.

Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows.

A ceasefire in the Middle East war, triggered about 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran's top leadership, has been in place since April 8.

Photo: AP

However, tensions surged again on Friday when the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran after downing drones headed toward the strait.

Shortly after, air raid sirens sounded in neighboring Gulf nations Kuwait and Bahrain — both US allies.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said yesterday that they had targeted "enemy bases in the area" with missiles in response to a US "invasion" of the country's Sirik and Qeshm islands.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain.

CENTCOM said six of the missiles were downed, while the seventh "did not reach its intended target."

"There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false," the command said in a statement.

The latest flare-up came despite the US moving ahead with allowing Iran's national team to travel to the World Cup it is cohosting with Canada and Mexico.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the visa issuances, saying that "sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world."

However, Iran's Fars news agency reported that visas had yet to be issued for some members of the team's "technical and executive staff."

An unnamed US administration official said in a statement: "We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses."

The team was to fly from Turkey to Spain yesterday before traveling on to their base camp in Mexico, where they are expected to arrive today.

Earlier on Friday, CENTCOM said its forces also downed four Iranian drones headed toward the Strait of Hormuz before striking Iranian coastal radar installations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island.

"The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic," while the strikes on radar installations "defend against further attacks," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Iranian state television IRIB reported yesterday that "several explosions were heard" in Sirik in southern Iran at about 2:30am.

"Following the invasion of the child-killing and terrorist US army into Sirik and Qeshm Island, enemy bases in the region were hit by aerial missiles," IRIB reported, quoting the Guards after the US strikes on Iran.

Kuwait's military yesterday said that it was responding to "hostile" missile and drone attacks, days after a strike on the country's international airport killed one and wounded dozens.

"Kuwaiti air defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone attacks," the military said on X, without specifying their origin.

US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that Iran still retained roughly "21, 22 percent" of its missile stockpile despite repeated claims from US officials that Tehran's military capacity had been crippled.

That figure was higher than the 18 percent Trump gave last month.

Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the conflict has rattled global markets and increased political pressure on Trump at home ahead of midterm elections.