TEHRAN (AFP) — The United States struck Iran and Tehran hit back at US allies in the Gulf on Thursday, as the foes battled over the vital Strait of Hormuz in the renewed Middle East war.

The key oil and gas artery, which Iran insists it controls, is central to the rekindled fighting that has entered its sixth day despite the foes’ preliminary deal in June aiming to end the war.

US forces hit Iranian military targets in multiple locations including coastal Bandar Abbas to “degrade Iran’s ability to threaten innocent mariners” in the Strait of Hormuz, Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

Earlier strikes had targeted coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island in the Gulf, CENTCOM added.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported explosions in several areas of the country on Thursday, including Lorestan in the west and Senman in the north, while air defenses were triggered in parts of Tehran.

Soon after, US allies in the Gulf began reporting attacks, with Kuwait saying it intercepted Iranian drones and Bahrain sounding air raid sirens.

At the heart of the renewed fighting is the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway crucial to global oil and gas flows.

Iran blockaded Hormuz after the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on 28 February, using the waterway for leverage against its foes for months.

The strait was briefly reopened after the US-Iran deal last month, before Tehran vowed last week it would be closed again “until the US ends its aggression.”

Iran’s military said it targeted US military facilities in Jordan with drones, “in response to the enemy aggression,” state television IRIB said.

Earlier, the US military said one of its aircraft fired on and disabled an empty oil tanker that was trying to break the naval blockade of Iran’s ports.

In Iraq, Kurdish forces said the US-led coalition downed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil, the capital of the northern Kurdistan region, where Agence France-Presse journalists heard explosions and saw smoke near the US consulate.

Hours later, Iraqi Prime Minister condemned the “drone attack” without identifying their origin.