US and Iran reach outline agreement to extend ceasefire, reports say

US and Iran trade blows

The latest attacks, while limited, highlighted the fragility of negotiations to turn the tenuous early-April ceasefire into a lasting agreement to end the three-month-old war, which has killed thousands, and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

US Central Command said US forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces had then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base.

"These actions were measured, purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire," a US official, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about military operations, told Reuters earlier.