The United States and Iran have exchanged fire across the Mideast, threatening a ceasefire deal. The US launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting US-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

US Strikes Hit Multiple Targets

The US military’s Central Command said it hit 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers. The US said the strikes were intended to ‘further degrade’ Iran’s ability ‘to threaten freedom of navigation’ in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities. The state-run IRNA news agency quoted a local official in Bushehr as accusing the US of striking near the plant around noon, hours after Central Command said it had ended its latest round of strikes.

Iranian Response and Funeral Procession

Iran responded to the US strikes by targeting US-allied countries in the Mideast. Sirens sounded Thursday afternoon in Jordan as well, where the US has stationed troops and aircraft. The Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard fired missiles at a US base in Jordan, according to Iranian state TV.

Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was laid to rest in his hometown of Mashhad after days of public mourning. Khamenei was killed in the opening salvos of the Iran war. Tens of thousands of mourners thronged wide boulevards during the final funeral procession for Khamenei on Thursday.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.