In brief
- US President Donald Trump said he was "not satisfied" with Iran's latest offer in negotiations to end the war.
- Israel declared much of south Lebanon "combat zones" and told all residents to leave.
The United States carried out new strikes on southern Iran on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump threatened to "finish the job" if it did not agree to a peace deal.
Iranian media reported three loud explosions rang out in the port city of Bandar Abbas on Thursday, following US strikes earlier in the week that underscored the fragile state of a diplomatic push to get a provisional peace agreement across the finish line.
"Today, US Central Command Forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz," a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in a statement to news agency Agence France-Presse.
"US forces also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone," the official said.
Shortly after the latest US strikes, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards targeted a US base in retaliation, Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported.
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"Following this morning's aggression by the invading US military against a location on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport using aerial projectiles, the American air base that served as the source of the attack was targeted at 4.50 am (11.50 am AEST)," the Guards said, according to IRIB.
It did not provide details of the location of the base, though Kuwait, a US ally, said it was responding to missile and drone attacks on Thursday.
Iran says return to war unlikely; Trump 'not satisfied' with deal
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated as talks to end the Middle East war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz appeared to have stalled once more, just days after he said a deal was near.
Before the new strikes, Iran said that a return to war with the US was unlikely as the two sides appeared to inch towards a deal, though Trump said he was not happy with Iran's latest offer.
The US leader warned he might be compelled to "finish the job" if a better arrangement was not reached, even as optimism for a peace deal that would reopen the Hormuz trade route sent oil prices tumbling.
Iran has indicated that it seeks to impose a new reality in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's oil normally passes, exacting tolls on transiting ships and sharing the revenues with Oman.
With fighting paused since an 8 April ceasefire, negotiations to end the conflict — which started on 28 February with joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran — and resume trade through the blockaded waterway have hit repeated roadblocks, leaving the global economy shaken.
Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said the likelihood of a return to "war is low because of the enemy's weakness", but warned the military was "lying in wait with full magazines" in the event of an attack, Tasnim news agency reported.
Trump, meanwhile, said in a cabinet meeting that he was in no rush to reach an accord, despite saying at the weekend that one was close.
"Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far they haven't gotten there. We're not satisfied with it, but we will be," he said.
"Either that or we'll have to just finish the job."
A day earlier, Iran accused the US of breaching the ceasefire and warned it was prepared to retaliate following the most serious strikes since the truce took effect.
The US military said it had launched "self-defence strikes" targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats overnight earlier this week.
Iran's intelligence ministry, meanwhile, said the US and Israel were still seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic and partition Iran, accusing them of seeking to foment division and carry out sabotage missions.
Trump threatens to 'blow up' Oman
Trump also appeared to threaten to attack US ally Oman if it sides with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Oman must "behave" or he would "blow them up" when he was asked on Thursday AEST if he would accept a short-term deal to allow Iran and the Gulf state to control the waterway.
"No, the Strait is going to be open to everybody," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House.
"It's international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that, they'll be fine."
Oman is a key US ally that has tried to mediate the war in the Middle East and has itself come under attack from Iran's government.
Israel carries out strikes on southern Lebanon
Israel's military said on Thursday it had started striking Hezbollah infrastructure around Tyre after issuing an evacuation warning for residents of the southern Lebanese city.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) order said it was "compelled to take forceful action" against the Iran-backed group.
It added that residents of the zone around certain buildings should leave and travel north of the Zahrani River, and that remaining in the area "places you at risk".
"The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Tyre," the military posted in a later statement on Telegram.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported two sets of Israeli strikes had taken place on the city and an area to its east on Thursday morning, hitting a building and sparking a fire in Tyre.
Israel tells residents of southern Lebanon to leave
The strikes on Tyre came as Israel's military declared a new swathe of southern Lebanon as a combat zone and said residents in the area should move north, warning it would act "with great force" against Hezbollah in the zone.
The military's statement, posted on X, appeared to signal further escalation after more than 120 strikes hit Lebanon's south and east on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire announced on 16 April.
"We advise residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the Zahrani River, as all areas south of the river are considered a combat zone," an Israeli military spokesperson posted on X.
The Zahrani River runs east to west about 40km north of Israel's border with Lebanon, and the Lebanese territory south of it covers about 2,000 square kilometres.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel needed to take further action in Lebanon to protect communities in northern Israel from Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has previously ordered people below the Litani River further south to leave. It already issued individual evacuation orders and carried out strikes in several dozen towns between the Litani and Zahrani.
Wednesday's order was the first time that residents were ordered to evacuate the entire zone south of the Zahrani.
The Israeli military urged civilians to stay away from Hezbollah operatives, facilities and weapons sites.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese people have been displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation orders since 2 March, when Hezbollah fired at Israel in support of its ally Iran.
Since then, Israeli strikes have pummelled Lebanon's south, east and its capital Beirut, killing more than 3,200 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
The World Health Organization has said at least 608 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce.
The Israeli military said that 10 of its soldiers had been killed since the ceasefire, six of them by Hezbollah's explosive drones.
The Israeli military expanded its ground operations in southern Lebanon past a security zone its troops are occupying, but gave no details on the extent of the advance beyond the so-called Yellow Line.
The Lebanese capital Beirut has been spared new strikes, although Israeli surveillance drones are heard buzzing above the city every day and a warplane was heard flying low on Wednesday, according to Reuters reporters there.
Three senior Israeli officials said Israel believes it has freedom of action in southern Lebanon but less so in Beirut.
The officials told Reuters that Israel does not want to be seen as derailing Trump's potential deal with Iran by knocking down buildings in the Lebanese capital.
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