New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire, even as American officials confirmed that Tehran’s football players had received visas for the 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 nearly 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran’s top leadership, has been in place since April 8.
But tensions surged again 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 — and AFP correspondents in both countries heard explosions.
