US, Iran continue exchanging strikes as path to de-escalation remains uncertain

The US military launched air strikes on Iran for the 13th consecutive night late on Thursday and early on Friday, prompting Iran to fire at neighboring Arab countries that host US bases.

US missiles struck a Revolutionary Guards Navy headquarters in the Ziba Kenar area of the Caspian Sea province of Gilan, according to a security official in Gilan quoted by Iranian media. Provincial authorities said US projectiles had also struck the port city of Bandar Anzali, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency.

Four people were killed and five injured in a US attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, the state broadcaster Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting said.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Friday that its forces had launched fresh retaliatory strikes against US bases and assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.

The IRGC said its forces had struck and completely destroyed a "very large" US ammunition depot at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait with "advanced and ultra-heavy" kamikaze drones.

US President Donald Trump has threatened in recent days to expand ‌the targets being struck in Iran to include energy plants and bridges, to send ground forces to seize its Kharg Island oil hub, and to bomb a deep-underground nuclear-linked site known as Pickaxe Mountain.

On Friday, he said he had not yet made a decision for new major strikes.

Trump: US and Iran are talking

Trump said on Friday that the ‌United States and Iran were in talks to negotiate an end to their conflict, but ⁠repeated that Tehran was not yet ready for a deal.

"We are talking to them. I think they're being serious. I think ... they are ‌being ⁠by far the most serious that we've seen them, but that doesn't mean ⁠we get there. We'll see what happens," Trump said ⁠in remarks to reporters at the White ⁠House.

Asked what is the exit strategy for the Iran war, Trump said: "There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are, and we can even make it a heavier dose, and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal."

Trump offered few details about whether he would order a major escalation of US attacks on Iran as it remained unclear whether behind-the-scenes negotiations could revive diplomatic efforts.

Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, reported that Pakistan was exploring a path to resume stalled US-Iran talks aimed at ending the war.

Exploratory discussions took place during a visit by Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Islamabad this week, sources said.

The Strait of Hormuz in focus

The Strait of Hormuz, entrance to the Gulf, has so far been the focus of a war that has killed thousands in almost five months, stoked global inflation and fanned fears of ⁠an economic downturn.

The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, have also announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran's near-total blockade of Hormuz.

After the Houthis said they had struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday, Trump said he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by the fighters.

The United States and Britain are planning to hold a high-level meeting in London next week to discuss forming a potential international coalition to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, US online news outlet Axios reported on Friday.

According to the report, reopening the strategic waterway, a vital global energy shipping route, is widely viewed as a key element of any US strategy for ending its war with Iran.

(With input from agencies)