Iran retaliates with strikes on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait

U.S. Central Command said it launched “powerful” strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard small boats and coastal targets in response to the tanker attacks. Iranian state media reported that strikes hit the island of Qeshm, the port city of Bandar Abbas and the coastal town of Sirik. A fire was filmed burning in Bandar Abbas, according to video circulated online.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, in a statement, called the U.S. military “child-killing and terrorist,” according to NBC News, and said Washington had “openly violated the ceasefire and breached the Islamabad understanding by carrying out airstrikes against several coastal bases and civilian stations along the coasts of Hormozgan Province and Mahshahr.” Iran’s deputy foreign minister called the U.S. attacks a violation of the U.S.-Iran memorandum signed last month and warned that Tehran would “take decisive measures.”

In a statement carried by state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Iran’s Armed Forces said they had attacked 85 “key U.S. military installations” at Salman Port and the 5th Fleet, both in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The statement was followed by a second one announcing a “new wave” of missiles targeting U.S. bases in Bahrain.

Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran’s top military command body, said in a statement: “We will not allow U.S. interference in the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz. Transit through the SoH is only permitted via the routes designated by Iran.”

The Kuwait Army confirmed in a statement that its air defenses were confronting “hostile missile and drone attacks.” There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The extent of damage from either side’s strikes was not immediately clear. The Pentagon has not commented on Iran’s claims of damage to U.S. installations.

The exchange is the latest in a series of escalating attacks since the two sides agreed to a 60-day cease-fire framework in June. Both sides have accused each other of violating the terms. Indirect negotiations held in Doha earlier this month made little progress, and the renewed fighting may upend the process entirely. MSI previously reported that the June strikes had already widened the conflict to involve Gulf neighbors, drawing in Bahrain and Kuwait as Iranian retaliatory targets after U.S. forces struck Iranian military sites.