Iran launches missile and drone strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait amid US‑Iran cease‑fire tensions

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out coordinated missile and drone attacks on U.S. military facilities in Bahrain – the Fifth Fleet headquarters at Port Salman – and Kuwait – the Ali Al Salem airbase. The strikes were a retaliation for recent U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz region. No casualties were reported; Bahrain said a residential building was damaged, while Kuwait’s defenses intercepted the projectiles.

Gulf states—including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates—condemned the attacks as violations of sovereignty and international law, urging de‑escalation and supporting the fragile cease‑fire agreement signed earlier in June between the United States and Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Tehran will retain exclusive control of the Strait of Hormuz for the next 30 days and warned that any external interference would further delay the waterway’s reopening. The United States, meanwhile, described the Iranian attacks as a breach of the memorandum of understanding and noted its own strikes on Iranian surveillance and missile sites in response to an Iranian drone attack on the tanker Kiku.

The exchange of strikes threatens the cease‑fire, raises the risk of broader regional conflict, and puts the critical shipping lane that carries about 20 percent of the world’s oil at risk.