Middle East crisis live: US and Iran trade strikes again, after Trump warns Tehran will ‘pay the price’ for stalled talks

Thursday’s strikes are more evidence that Iran has the leverage in the negotiations with the Trump administration, according to Dan Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Israel.

double quotation markIt is Trump that is desperate for them to sign the agreement, as his statements reveal, and Iran that is dragging their feet.”

in a post online, Shapiro says that the strikes will reinforce for Iran that “time works in their favor.”

double quotation markA deal that punts nuclear negotiations to a second phase and requires some sanctions relief is a lousy deal — and still the least bad available alternative.”

Welcome to our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.

The US has launched a second round of airstrikes, after Donald Trump warned that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations, and Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

The US assault across multiple Iranian cities came as efforts to negotiate an end the war again appeared stuck, with Iran insisting it would maintain its chokehold on the strait of Hormuz.

It was the second consecutive say of back-and-forth strikes between the US and Iran, testing the limits of she shaky two-month ceasefire.

Here are the days main developments:

• US Central Command said it had “completed” its latest round of airstrikes just before sunrise in Iran. It said the strikes targeted “Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems and air defense sites,” and were carried out by the US air force, Marines and Navy.
• The sounds of explosions echoed around Tehran, the port city of Bandar Abbas and other southern areas along the strait of Hormuz.
• Iran responded by launching strikes on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
• Kuwait closed its airspace as its air defences fought off the attack. Kuwait’s directorate general of civil aviation said flights were being diverted to other airports, without elaborating.
• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had fired ballistic missiles at a US command centre in Jordan, according to state media.