Iran Launches Fresh Attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, Warns US Over Escalating Conflict

Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Iranian oversight led to days of crossfire. A multinational maritime agency overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it will expand a route for inbound and outbound traffic near Oman.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday repeated his claim that Tehran should rule the strait to the Persian Gulf, which once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.

“Any attempt to create new or separate regulations from those currently maintained by the Islamic Republic of Iran will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and increase the level of tension,” Araghchi said.

The Strait has long been considered an international waterway, despite being located in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked ships passing through a route close to the Omani side.

Pakistan, a key mediator, said talks on the terms of the interim agreement between the United States and Iran will continue on Tuesday. The Trump administration said Sunday that nothing had been canceled and that technical talks would continue in the coming days.

The discussions include regulations regarding the strait, the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports and sanctions against Iran, and the future of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stock. The two sides have 60 days to discuss the details after signing the memorandum of understanding earlier this month.

The ongoing conflict in Lebanon threatens the agreement, which states that hostilities must end on all fronts before certain issues can be discussed.

The attacks target Gulf countries hosting the US military. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Kuwait, which hosts a major US military base, said its air defenses captured Iranian drones and two missiles soon after the US attacked Iran. No injuries or damage were reported.

Bahrain said Iranian attacks damaged a residential building near the international airport and that no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near the headquarters.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals what Tehran is doing is not a temporary action or an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a repeated pattern of systematic attacks.”

Later Sunday, Qatar said one civilian was killed and another was injured by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area” after a ship failed to return at the scheduled time on Saturday. He did not give details.

Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire The US military said the Iranian military hit “surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air defense facilities, unmanned aerial vehicle storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship on Saturday. The Panama-flagged tanker Kiku was carrying crude oil for Qatar’s state energy company, another important intermediary.

US President Donald Trump accused Iran on social media of violating the agreement and warned of a point when the US “might have to finish the job militarily.”

“If this happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote.

The clashes began when an Iranian drone crashed into a commercial ship off the coast of Oman on Thursday and the US military retaliated.

The multinational maritime agency overseen by the US Navy said in a statement on Sunday that ship traffic in the strait had increased in the last 72 hours “despite the high threat environment”, adding that “US-supported commercial passages continue uninterrupted”.

It was stated that 89 such crossings occurred below the historical average of 138 ships per day.

Iran calls for new ‘conflict control unit’ in Lebanon Last week, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement to end the latest conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which began two days after the start of the Iran war when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel. Israel responded by invading Southern Lebanon and declared that it would not withdraw until Hezbollah was disarmed.

The agreement did not include Iran or Hezbollah, which criticized it and rejected calls for disarmament.

On Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister said again that the United States should force Israel to stop attacks and withdraw. Israel occupies an area of ​​about 600 square kilometers (231 square miles) in southern Lebanon and says it needs it as a security buffer.

Clashes have continued sporadically, and Hezbollah’s leader said on Saturday that the group would continue fighting until Israel withdraws from Lebanon.

A meeting of a new “conflict control unit” created between Iran, the United States and Lebanon should be held as soon as possible, Iran’s state broadcaster reported, as Iran’s top negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammed Bager Qalibaf, said on Sunday.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency, two attacks took place in Southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, one in the town of Taybeh and the other in the Nabatiyeh region. There was no immediate statement about the injured.

Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier overnight in the village of Deir Siryan in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli army. Hezbollah did not comment.

Israel targeted a village in Syria. The Israeli army targeted the village of Abdin in Dera province, southern Syria, with artillery bombardment on Sunday evening, Syrian state media reported. No casualties were immediately reported.

In the statement made by the Deraa provincial government, it was stated that the residents of the village threw stones as the Israeli convoy was advancing towards the village, and the soldiers withdrew after the intervention of the UN peacekeepers. It was stated that the Israeli artillery bombardment forced the residents of Abdin to flee the village.

Early Sunday, the Israeli army said it had killed several gunmen in southern Syria but did not provide details. There was no statement from Syrian officials.

Israel took control of a UN-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria in December 2024 after former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by a rebel offensive. Israeli officials initially described the move as temporary but have recently announced that they plan to occupy the area indefinitely.