Iran launches attacks on American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after fresh US strikes – Middle East crisis live | US-Israel war on Iran
Iran launched an attack on American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after new US attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said this morning that they targeted American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan air base in Jordan as part of retaliatory strikes against the United States.
While Jordan announced that it had intercepted and shot down four missiles launched from Iranian territory a few hours ago, the Kuwaiti army said it had captured “enemy air targets” in the country’s airspace.
The attacks marked an escalation in recent tit-for-tat attacks between the United States and Iran as Tehran seeks dominance over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which it sees as its biggest trump card in negotiations with Washington.
Iran’s attacks on US-allied countries in the region came in retaliation for overnight US attacks on “dozens” of Iranian sites, including air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” the US military’s Central Command said. “Iran doesn’t control this.”
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which controls the country’s ballistic missile arsenal, rejected the US statement, saying the strait was “our territory” and that it would not allow Washington’s “illegal intervention in it”.
Iran and the United States are nearly halfway through a 60-day interim agreement that calls for the start of negotiations to permanently end the war that the United States and Israel started in late February.
Instead, it turned into a series of attacks on the strait, through which typically one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows, and its future.
US President Donald Trump claimed last week that the interim agreement on the war was “over”. But mediators, including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt, continued their efforts to reach a final agreement.
In other important developments:
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The United States said it struck Iran early Sunday after the Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a Cyprus-flagged container ship that it claimed was following an “unauthorized route” in the Strait of Hormuz.
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The Revolutionary Guard later said they had hit a second ship and accused it of “violating the rules”, according to state media.
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Shortly thereafter, U.S. Central Command said its forces had carried out a series of strikes against Iran, attacking at least 140 targets.
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Iran yesterday launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbors in retaliation for US attacks and announced that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice.
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Donald Trump later denied claims that Iran had closed the strait and insisted the strait was open to commercial traffic, even though the US-run Joint Maritime Information Center said traffic was moving through the narrow waterway at “low levels”. Trump said US forces were forcibly keeping the strait open.
important events
What is the status of US-Iran talks?
Julian Borger
The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on June 17 extended the ceasefire in the war by 60 days to allow for the revival of trade through the Strait of Hormuz and create breathing space for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief, the main points of contention between Iran and the west.
Apart from some indirect technical talks, these negotiations did not take place, and conflict between Israel and Hezbollah continued in Lebanon, which was supposed to be covered by the agreement.
The MoU began to unravel last Monday when Iran attacked three merchant ships as they crossed the strait along the southern route off the coast of Oman, which the Iranians said they disapproved of. This led to US missile strikes in response and set off tit-for-tat exchanges that lasted almost a week.
Tehran is determined that any long-term agreement in the region must recognize its control over the strait, which it seized soon after the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February.
On Sunday, Mohsen Rezaee, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei,, State media quoted him as saying: “This strategic transition is more important than dozens of atomic bombs, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will protect it.”
According to a report from Iran’s Mehr news agency that we could not independently verify, the deputy governor of Isfahan province said one person was killed and seven others were injured in a US attack on a military base in Nain, Iran.
Oman’s interior ministry said in a series of social media posts this morning that sirens had been activated and urged residents to go to the nearest safe place and await further instructions.
As we mentioned in the opening article, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously announced that it attacked radar systems in Oman as part of its counter-attacks against the United States.
Iran launched an attack on American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait following new US attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said this morning that they targeted American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan air base in Jordan as part of retaliatory strikes against the United States.
While Jordan announced that it had intercepted and shot down four missiles launched from Iranian territory a few hours ago, the Kuwaiti army said it had captured “enemy air targets” in the country’s airspace.
The attacks marked an escalation in recent tit-for-tat attacks between the United States and Iran as Tehran seeks dominance over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which it sees as its biggest trump card in negotiations with Washington.
Iran’s attacks on US-allied countries in the region came in retaliation for overnight US attacks on “dozens” of Iranian sites, including air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” the US military’s Central Command said. “Iran doesn’t control this.”
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which controls the country’s ballistic missile arsenal, rejected the US statement, saying the strait was “our territory” and that it would not allow Washington’s “illegal intervention in it”.
Iran and the United States are nearly halfway through a 60-day interim agreement that calls for the start of negotiations to permanently end the war that the United States and Israel started in late February.
Instead, it turned into a series of attacks on the strait, through which typically one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows, and its future.
US President Donald Trump claimed last week that the interim agreement on the war was “over”. But mediators, including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt, continued their efforts to reach a final agreement.
In other important developments:
-
The United States said it struck Iran early Sunday after the Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a Cyprus-flagged container ship that it claimed was following an “unauthorized route” in the Strait of Hormuz.
-
The Revolutionary Guard later said they had hit a second ship and accused it of “violating the rules”, according to state media.
-
Shortly thereafter, U.S. Central Command said its forces had carried out a series of strikes against Iran, attacking at least 140 targets.
-
Iran yesterday launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbors in retaliation for US attacks and announced that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be closed until further notice.
-
Donald Trump later denied claims that Iran had closed the strait and insisted the strait was open to commercial traffic, even though the US-run Joint Maritime Information Center said traffic was moving through the narrow waterway at “low levels”. Trump said US forces were forcibly keeping the strait open.
