The U.S. and Iran traded heavier strikes Thursday as a weeklong escalation threatened to unravel last month's truce, though Tehran's release of a U.S. citizen raised hopes of averting a return to full-scale war.
For the first time since a memorandum of understanding (MoU) paused fighting last month, the United States launched two big waves of airstrikes in one day Wednesday, mostly on targets near the coast in southern Iran.
Iran responded with missiles and drones fired at U.S. military bases in neighboring countries, including a major barrage at a recently expanded air base in Jordan.
The week of increasingly intense fire has tested the limits of escalation that both sides set during four months of fighting before last month's truce. But in the midst of the attacks, U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the release of a U.S. citizen in Iran as a "gesture of goodwill."
Human rights lawyer Jared Genser identified her as Dena Karari, who he said had been "trapped in Iran since December 2024 on bogus charges" and was "now safe and traveling back to the United States." There was no comment from Iran on the case.
