Paul Wallace

It seems to start off with the U.S.

disabling, as it said, an empty oil tanker heading towards Iran's ports.

That's part of the U.S.

's blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran reacted by firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and on Kuwait and Bahrain.

And whilst it didn't manage to hit military bases in those two countries, it did damage Kuwait's main airport.

So it was pretty serious.

These skirmishes last night, if you like, seem more serious than the ones we've seen between the U.S.

and Iran over the past week.

We don't know who started it, who fired first, but the U.S.

military is saying that it fired upon Iranian military sites in self-defense on the island of Qeshm, which is in the Strait of Hormuz.

And Iran reacted by firing upon targets in Bahrain and in Kuwait.

I think the trend line is still in the direction of an interim peace deal.

We know the basic outlines of it.

It will be a six-seater extension to their ceasefire.

The Strait of Hormuz will be reopened and the U.S.

will lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.

But there's still a lot of details that they're wrangling over.

And I think that's why we've got the holdup.

Now to the Middle East.