Iran carried out strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain on Saturday in response to US attacks despite the ceasefire, further jeopardizing stalled negotiations, particularly on the issue of frozen Iranian assets.

Since the ceasefire of April 8, hostilities between the United States and Iran had virtually ceased. But they have recently resumed, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime waterway for hydrocarbons that is controlled by Tehran.

These new exchanges of fire come as the Iranian football team has flown to Mexico, their base camp for the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The players have obtained visas to enter the United States, where they are due to play their three group stage matches, the first of which is on June 15 in Los Angeles, but Iran has denounced "discriminatory treatment" as several members of the coaching staff have not obtained the necessary permits.

- "Deafening explosions" -

In the Gulf, Kuwait and Bahrain, already targeted earlier in the week, condemned the "blatant aggressions" committed by Iran against their territory, seeing it as "a dangerous escalation".

During the night, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards indicated that they had fired ballistic missiles in retaliation for American strikes towards the Ali Al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, where American aircraft are stationed, and the headquarters of the American Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

"We were woken up by deafening explosions. The blasts were extremely loud. My children were terrified, and I couldn't calm them down," Reem, an Egyptian woman living in Kuwait, told AFP.

According to the U.S. Central Command for the Middle East (Centcom), six missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.

The army also mentioned Iranian drones "launched towards the Strait of Hormuz", an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic.

US forces had previously struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island, a "blatant violation of the ceasefire" according to Iran.

- "Our money" -

On the diplomatic front, nothing has leaked about the progress of negotiations between Washington and Tehran in recent days.

In an interview with CNN, Mohsen Rezaei, the military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, spoke of a "deadlock" and called on Donald Trump to "break the deadlock" by releasing Iranian funds held abroad, which have been frozen due to US sanctions.

"If he wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of confidence," he said. "It's our money, not the United States'."

According to a source close to the matter, the US Treasury is examining the possibility that these assets could, on the contrary, be used to compensate Gulf countries for damages caused by Iranian strikes.

Another major point of contention is Lebanon. Tehran demands that any agreement with Washington include an end to hostilities on Lebanese soil between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, while the United States would like to deal with the two issues separately.

On Saturday, the head of the Lebanese army left to meet his counterpart in Pakistan, the main mediator in the talks between the United States and Iran.

"Lebanon is an essential part of these negotiations," stressed a source close to the matter.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi has arrived in Tehran, where he is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

In Lebanon, where the truce in place since April 17 has never been respected, fighting and strikes continue despite the announcement on Wednesday, at the end of a fourth round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, of a new ceasefire agreement - rejected by Hezbollah like the previous one.

Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle, which was condemned by President Joseph Aoun. The previous day, he had criticized Iran, demanding that it cease interfering in his country's affairs.

Furthermore, the Israeli army announced on Saturday evening the death of two of its soldiers following fighting in southern Lebanon against the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the war in early March, attacking Israel to avenge the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed in an Israeli-American offensive.

Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed more than 3,560 people since the start of the conflict, according to the latest official figures. On the Israeli side, 27 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon.