CAIRO (AP) — The United States and Iran each fired barrages of missiles Thursday, as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for a quick end to the five-month conflict. Following a few days of respite, fears of a wider war have grown, with renewed fighting threatening to engulf even more countries. The US and Iran trade strikesAn Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm’s building in Kuwait on Thursday, severely damaging the structure and killing a worker, Kuwait’s military said, hours after Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict. That route became even more important during the war, as Saudi Arabia used it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.