The United States launched a second round of airstrikes on Iran into Thursday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Tehran would "pay the price" for stalled negotiations, and Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

The new U.S. assault came as efforts to negotiate an end the war again appeared stuck, with Iran insisting it would maintain its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted global energy supplies and sent oil prices higher. The American attack appeared more intense and wider than the day before, but Iran released little information on the extent of the damage.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran is taking "too long to negotiate a deal" and that "now they will have to pay the price."

Trump made the comment on his Truth Social platform.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Wednesday that Israel's attacks on Syria and Lebanon have started to represent a threat to Turkey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek re-election in the country's upcoming national vote, expected to be held by late October, the 76-year-old leader's Likud party announced Wednesday.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu will run in the next elections and, God Willing, he will win," the party said on Telegram.

Iran attacked U.S. bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday, the latest salvo in tit-for-tat strikes with the United States after the downing of a U.S. helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.

The worst bout of fighting between Washington and Tehran since their April 8 ceasefire has cast further doubt on U.S. President Donald Trump's earlier claim that negotiations were in their "final throes" before reaching an enduring settlement to end the Middle East war.

Members of Palestinian factions including Hamas agreed in principle for Gaza's armed groups to hand over parts of their arsenals to a yet-to-be-created, ad hoc Palestinian entity during talks in Cairo, Palestinian sources told AFP on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said negotiations over a peace deal to end the Middle East war were in their final stages, after Iran and Israel halted attacks that threatened to reignite the months-long conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a U.S. military helicopter was shot down by Iran and that the United States "must" respond.

The Apache helicopter is the second crewed aircraft that Washington has confirmed was shot down by Iran during the Middle East war, following the loss of an F-15 fighter plane in April.

France Tuesday banned far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, the French foreign minister said, slamming him for actively promoting the annexation of the West Bank and the "re-colonization" of Gaza.

"Four leaders of settler organizations, and twenty-one violent settlers" were also banned from French territory, Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X, condemning a "policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community, firmly committed to the two-state solution, cannot accept".

Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon and Iran have made clear that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who started the war in lockstep, want different things.

Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut. When it did, on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.