Mediator Pakistan says US-Iran talks ongoing as foes trade attacks

TEHRAN, July 30: Mediator Pakistan insisted on Thursday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as Washington carried out a "heavy wave of strikes" on its foe in retaliation for fresh attacks targeting Jordan.

The last two days have seen Saudi Arabia join the US in striking militant groups in Iraq, and Egypt come under fire for the first time with a drone attack at a Mediterranean port.

On Thursday morning, Jordan reported intercepting incoming Iranian missiles for a second day running, while Kuwait said an Iranian strike that hit a building belonging to a Chinese company killed one person.

The return to direct hostilities followed a brief pause in fighting meant to give talks a boost.

"Negotiations between parties are ongoing, particularly on (the) Strait of Hormuz and to de-escalate," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad.

Pakistan had helped to broker a deal between the warring sides laying the groundwork for negotiations on a permanent resolution, and Andrabi said it was doing its "utmost to bring all parties back" to technical talks under the agreement.

Previous talks between the two parties following an April truce stalled, with the ceasefire collapsing earlier this month and Iran again slamming shut the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Middle Eastern oil and gas.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that two oil tankers attempting to transit the strait with US support turned back after one of them caught fire.

Earlier, the US military said it had "successfully completed a heavy wave of strikes against Iran", hitting dozens of Revolutionary Guard targets including military command centres.

US President Donald Trump had vowed to hit Iran "hard" after Tehran's previous attack on Jordan, its first in the region in days.

The Guards' branch in the northwestern province of Zanjan said three of its members were killed in a US attack there.

Iran's state news agency IRNA also reported hits on several cities in the southwestern Khuzestan province, as well as on Qeshmisland in the Gulf.

Areas around the cities of Abadan, Shadegan, Arvandkenar and Ahvaz -- all in Khuzestan -- were struck, the agency said, citing provincial authorities.

The Jordanian army reported a new volley of Iranian missiles on Thursday morning, saying five had been shot down, causing no casualties.�" AFP