The US has launched new airstrikes against Iran, hours after Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz.

Iran, which is burying its former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday, responded by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant.

The tit-for-tat strikes were the largest since Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 17 June aimed at extending the ceasefire and giving space for negotiations for a permanent truce. They came as Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said his country was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, threatening to do so “with even greater force”.

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