THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES said today that it had responded to another Iranian missile barrage, hours after United States and Iranian forces traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz — the latest blows to a shaky ceasefire.

The UAE’s defence ministry said three people were wounded after air defences engaged two ballistic missiles and three drones launched by Iran.

The US said it thwarted attacks on three navy ships and struck Iranian military facilities in the strait.

Iran has mostly blocked the waterway, critical for global energy, since the US and Israel launched the unprovoked war on February 28, killing thousands and causing a global spike in fuel prices.

The US military said today that its forces had fired on and destroyed two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach the US blockade of Iran’s ports.

US President Donald Trump played down the fighting on Thursday, calling the US strikes a “love tap” in a phone call with ABC. But he reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing if Iran does not accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear programme — which Mr Trump claimed to have “totally obliterated” last June.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the US strikes were a clear violation of the ceasefire.

The violence came as Washington awaited a response from Tehran in negotiations to end the war. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today that he expected to hear from Iran later on.

“I hope it’s a serious offer,” Rubio told reporters. “I really do.”

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least five people today, while Hezbollah fired rockets on northern Israel without inflicting any casualties.

The health ministry in Lebanon said that an Israeli air strike on the southern village of Toura near the port city of Tyre had killed four people and wounded eight.

And Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported another strike near the south-eastern village of Kfar Chouba, killing a paramedic.

Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon are scheduled to resume next week in Washington, according to an anonymous US official.

The supposed ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah resistance group has also been repeatedly broken, including by ongoing fighting in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said today that since March 2 at least 2,759 people have been killed and 8,512 wounded by Israel’s attacks across the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun praised Red Cross volunteers today and called on Israel to stop attacking medics, rescue workers and journalists.

“We have demanded a halt to the targeting of health institutions in all their forms, from the Red Cross to civil defence, alongside media professionals,” Mr Aoun said. “But unfortunately, we face those who do not believe in the sanctity of international law nor respect it.”