Iran, US escalate in Gulf but release of American signals path to climb down

Iran and the United States exchanged intensified fire on Thursday in a week-long escalation that has all but torn up last month's truce, but Iran's release of a U.S. citizen was seen as signalling ​a path to avert the resumption of all-out war, Reuters reported.

For the first time since a memorandum of understanding paused fighting last month, the United States launched two big waves of air strikes ‌in one day on Wednesday, mostly on targets near the coast in southern Iran.

Iran responded with missiles and drones fired at U.S. military bases in neighbouring 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.

Over decades of confrontation, the release of U.S. citizens held in Iran has been managed through behind-the-scenes contacts that persisted when formal diplomacy was cut off.