Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile strikes targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday in response to U.S. airstrikes hitting the Islamic Republic, threatening that talks to end the war could be “completely halted” if Washington continues its attacks.
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, without direct Iranian oversight, ignited the crossfire that now engulfs the region. A multinational maritime agency overseen by the US Navy said on Saturday it would expand the route in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman to allow both inbound and outbound traffic, creating a new flashpoint with Tehran.
Iran insists that it should rule the strait alone after the war, turning the world upside down for decades considering that international waters are free for all, even though the strait is in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Tehran has twice attacked ships passing through the Oman route supported by the United Nations organization in recent days.
Earlier Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said the Iranian military struck “surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air defense facilities, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku, was carrying crude oil for the state energy company of Qatar, which is a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
In a social media post, Trump said that the USA “RE-hit Iran’s missile and unmanned aerial vehicle depots and coastal radar sites on the grounds that they violated the Ceasefire Agreement.” He warned of a point at which the United States may no longer be reasonable and “might have to get the job done militarily.”
“If this happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!” Trump wrote at Truth Social.
The incident follows a similar back-and-forth that occurred a few days ago. An Iranian drone crashed into a commercial ship It was attacked off the coast of Oman on Thursday, and the US military retaliated with strikes.
US says attacks were in response to Iran attack on oil tanker
According to ship tracking sites, the Kiku left the Qatar oil field in the middle of the Persian Gulf earlier in the week and headed for a port in the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman, just on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz.
It appears that Iran is trying to use a route close to the Omani coast as an alternative to the approved route through its own waters.
The US military said that “Iran had the opportunity to comply with the ceasefire agreement” but “chose not to” when its forces attacked Kiku.
Following the US strike early Sunday, Kuwait’s military said its air defenses intercepted drones and missiles from Iran. There was no immediate report of any damage. Kuwait hosts a major US Army base.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement condemning 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 against the sovereignty of the kingdom and the security of its citizens and residents.”
Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, whose base was repeatedly attacked during the war.
The Guard claimed responsibility for both attacks, saying they targeted Al Asad Air Base in Kuwait.
“Let the enemy know that violation of the ceasefire will lead to a complete halt of ongoing processes,” the guard added.
The Guard, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and is now thought to wield even greater influence in the Islamic Republic.
