Iran launched attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait after the US hit 10 targets in the country – the Islamic Republic warned negotiations with Washington will come to a ‘complete halt’ if US strikes continue
The Iranian military has launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait after the US conducted airstrikes on Iran, throwing the current ceasefire into doubt.
The Islamic Republic has threatened negotiations with Washington will come to a “complete halt” if the US does not stop its attacks.
Overnight the US military said “fighter jets conducted strikes tonight on 10 Iranian military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz” in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping.
In recent days, Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran claimed it must have direct control of how the strait is reopened.
The attacks on vessels came after a multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said it was going to increase traffic into and out of the strait, while Iran insists that it must be in charge of traffic flow in the area.
The Kuwaiti military said air defences detected and intercepted two ballistic missiles and Iranian drones on Sunday morning, shortly after the US strikes. Kuwait, which hosts a major US army base, said there had been no reports of injuries or damage.
Meanwhile Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport and no one was killed. The ministry released photos of the building filled with rubble and its windows blown out.
The US Navy’s 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain, with the facilities there coming under repeated attack during the war.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement denouncing what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression against the sovereignty of the kingdom, and the security of its citizens and residents.”
The strikes came after the US and Iran traded attacks over the weekend. The US military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defence sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” on Sunday, following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning.
That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States. It appeared to be attempting to use a route established near the coast of Oman, serving as an alternative to the route sanctioned by Iran that runs through its own waters.
In a social media post, Trump said the US had “struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!” He warned of a point where the US may no longer be able to be reasonable “and will be forced to militarily complete the job.”
“If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The incident follows a similar back-and-forth that occurred just days prior, when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman on Thursday, and the US military retaliated with strikes.
