US Bombs Iranian Military Sites        06/02 06:08

   The United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran 
after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it 
targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with missiles, which the U.S. says it shot 
down.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The United States said Monday that it 
bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone 
over the weekend. Iran then said it targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with 
missiles, which the U.S. says it shot down.

   The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested 
with back-and-forth attacks, though officials from both countries are still 
trying to negotiate an end to the war. It's not clear how close they are to a 
deal -- and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks.

   Fighting has also been escalating between Israel and the Lebanese militant 
group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire, and that has increasingly 
threatened the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire.

   On Monday afternoon U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah 
had agreed to dial back their fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators. 
Moments later, though, Israel said it had detected missile launches from 
Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover in 
protected spaces.

   Meantime, Iran maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting 
global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with 
far-reaching consequences. A cargo ship came under attack off Iraq Monday 
afternoon, the British military said.

   Fighting in Lebanon poses risks to Iran ceasefire

   Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah -- which 
joined the war in support of its main backer, Iran -- continues to launch 
drones into Israel.

   Iran wants any agreement to include Lebanon, and its foreign ministry on 
Monday highlighted the rising tensions in Lebanon, saying via government media: 
"The responsibility of the results and consequences of this situation is on the 
U.S."

   In his social media post about Israel and Hezbollah scaling back their 
fighting, Trump added that talks with Iran "are continuing, at a rapid pace."

   In Pakistan, which has been a mediator between Washington and Tehran, a 
former ambassador to the U.S. said that Israel's actions in Lebanon were 
complicating the diplomatic environment.

   "Israel is creating a new strategic reality in its neighborhood," Masood 
Khan told The Associated Press.

   US military attacks Iran

   The U.S. military's Central Command said it carried out the strikes in Iran 
on Saturday and Sunday around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island, hitting 
air defenses, a ground control station and two attack drones it said threatened 
ships in the region.

   "The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive 
Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was 
operating over international waters," Central Command said.

   Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is at a trickle compared to before the 
war, with ship owners deterred by the risk of an Iranian attack. Only 36 ships 
transited the waterway in the seven days leading up to to Friday, a third of 
them carrying crude oil or petroleum products, according to Lloyd's List 
Intelligence, which counts only ships big enough to carry globally significant 
amounts of oil or cargo. That compares to an average of more than 130 ships per 
day before the war began.

   A fifth of all the world's traded oil and natural gas once passed through 
the strait. Its closure has put pressure not only on energy supplies but on 
chemical fertilizer, generating fears of food shortages. The Gulf region 
produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizers.

   Kuwait reports incoming fire

   Kuwait said its air defenses opened fire early Monday morning to intercept 
incoming drone and missile fire.

   Around the same time, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it 
responded to an American attack without saying where, likely referring to the 
attack on Kuwait. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the 
Guard said that U.S. forces had targeted a telecommunications tower.

   Kuwait is home to U.S. Army Central, the Mideast forward command for the 
Army.

   Iranian state television shared footage of the ballistic missile launch, 
including a close-up showing a sticker on its body depicting a bruised Trump 
overlaid on a "closed" Strait of Hormuz with the caption: "Until the last 
American soldier leaves the region."

   Central Command said U.S. forces shot down two ballistic missiles Iran 
launched toward bases home to American troops. No Americans were hurt, it added.

   Attacks rattle ceasefire talks

   Over the weekend, the U.S. fired a missile into the engine room of a 
Gambia-flagged cargo ship trying to break its blockade of Iranian ports.

   On Monday, a cargo ship off Umm Qasr, Iraq, was struck by a projectile that 
caused a "large explosion," the British military said. It offered no other 
details, and no one claimed the attack. Iran previously has attacked ships off 
Iraq.

   Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move 
ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said 
the deal had not been finalized.

   The U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Trump 
has offered shifting goals for the conflict, although preventing Iran from 
building a nuclear weapon is among them. Iran has insisted its nuclear program 
is peaceful, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be made 
weapons-grade. Iran has enough of the material to build several nuclear 
weapons, should it choose to do so.

   U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested last week that negotiators were 
trying to strike general terms on Iran's nuclear program, with the specifics to 
be hammered out in the ensuing talks.

   Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday again accused 
the U.S. of "constantly" changing its positions.

   "We are negotiating in an atmosphere of mistrust," Baghaei told journalists.