Top News

Reported by: Mark Hallam | Zac Crellin with AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters

• Iran has attacked US bases in the Gulf
• The government says the attacks are in response to US strikes along Iran's coastline
• The US has said it shot down Iranian drones and attacked Iranian radar sites
• The governments of Iran and Lebanon are arguing about negotiations with US, Israel

Read below for a roundup of news related to the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

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RECAP — Iran's footballers receive World Cup visas for US

In case you missed this news when it broke late on Friday, Iran's football squad has been granted visas to enter the United States for the World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday.

The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, and a Trump administration official quoted by the State Department confirmed the news.

"Proud of our outstanding team at the US Embassy in Ankara for their work processing visas fro Iran's national football teams on their road to the FIFA World Cup in the United States," Barrack said. "Sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world."

The team is set to fly to Spain during the course of the day, before moving on to a base camp in Mexico, provisionally arriving on Sunday.

Iran will be based in co-host nation Mexico throughout the tournament — a late change made amid the conflict with the US — but the team's three group stage games will all take place in the US.

Iran will face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 16, then Belgium, also in LA, and Egypt in Seattle.

Iran's FM tells Lebanese government to save country from 'real foe'

Iranian foreign minister has fired back at Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, after Aoun and his prime minister both accused Tehran of treating Lebanon as a "bargaining chip" amid the conflict in the region.

"Based on Mr. Aoun's comments, one would think it's Iran that has occupied [a fifth] of Lebanon, displaced [a quarter] of Lebanese and bombing his country on daily basis," Foreign Minster Abbas Araghchi wrote online.

"Had Lebanon been bargaining chip for Iran, we'd have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President." he said.

Aoun had been unusually vocal in his criticism of Iran in an interview with CNN on Friday.

"It's not your country. It's our country. It's not your job to interfere in our country," Aoun had said. "Our people are being killed, our houses are being destroyed. They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable."

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam made similar comments in a press conference.

Lebanon's government has an uneasy relationship with the influential Iran-backed Hezbollah political party and militia. Hezbollah fired on Israel in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, despite appeals for calm from the country's government. Israel's renewed military incursion followed thereafter.

The nominal ceasefire between the US and Iran has faced considerably fewer violations — besides the continued naval standoff in the Persian Gulf — than the one between Hezbollah and Israel.

The latest proposal to extend it on Thursday was supported by Lebanon's governmment but not Hezbollah.

Iran war pushing millions into hunger — World Food Program

The UN's food agency, the World Food Program, said on Friday the conflict in the Middle East is pushing millions of people into hunger due to high oil prices and a short supply of fertilizer.

A new WFP report analyzed three countries and found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Sri Lanka and 2.3 million in Afghanistan are struggling to meet basic food needs due to the crisis.

"The closure of Hormuz is translating into increased hunger," said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of WFP’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Service.

"In many cases, the poorest families around the world, far from the center of the crisis, are being hit the hardest."

The impact of the war has a long tail for the global food supply. In some regions, farmers are entering planting seasons amid a fertilizer shortage, which leads to lower crop yields and higher food prices down the line.

"One of the biggest concerns is that the full impact of this crisis has yet to be felt,” Bauer added.

"Even if the conflict were to end today, irreversible damage has been done and the impact on prices, livelihoods and humanitarian operations will continue to be felt for a long time."

US says Iranian missiles toward Hormuz, Gulf neighbors intercepted

The US has intercepted "multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones" launched toward the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Gulf countries, the US Central Command said.

In a statement on X, the US CENTCOM said Iran fired the ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain hours after the US shot down four Iranian drones which "posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic."

"Initial assessments indicate six of the missiles launched by Iran were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its intended target." the US Central Command said.

"There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard targets US bases in Gulf region, state media reports

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday morning that it targeted US bases in the Gulf region.

"Following the invasion of the child-killing and terrorist US army into Sirik and Qeshm Island, enemy bases in the region were hit by aerial missiles," state broadcaster IRIB reported, quoting the Revolutionary Guard.

Kuwait said its air defenses responded to "hostile" drones and missiles while Bahrain activated its air raid siren.

Bahrain activates air raid sirens

Air raid sirens have sounded in Bahrain in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," the Bahraini Interior Ministry said on X

It comes after another gulf state, Kuwait, reported intercepting "hostile" drones and missiles.

Kuwait intercepts 'hostile' drones

Kuwait's military said early Saturday its air defenses responded to "hostile" drone and missile attacks. It did not specify their exact origin.

"The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces confirms that any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks," the Kuwaiti military said on X.

The attack comes days after a strike on Kuwait's International Airport killed one and wounded dozens more.

US says 4 Iranian drones launched toward Hormuz shot down

US Central Command forces have shot down four Iranian "one-way attack drones" they said were launched toward the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

US forces also struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and the island of Qeshm on the Persian Gulf, the US CENTCOM said on X, saying the strikes aimed to "defend against further attacks."

"The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic," the US Central Command said.

Welcome to our coverage

Iran has launched a fresh wave of strikes against US bases in the Gulf region, with strikes detected in Bahrain and Kuwait.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strikes were in retaliation for the US destroying Iranian radars in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. The US said the Iranian ballistic missiles and drones were intercepted.

Meanwhile, the conflict also continues to have grave impacts around the world, with the UN's World Food Program reporting that millions are being pushed into hunger due to rising oil prices and a shortage of fertilizer.

All this and more is coming up in our Middle East coverage.