US strikes Iran again after Bahrain, Kuwait attacks and tanker hit

The US carried out a second round of airstrikes on Iran after attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and a Qatar-linked tanker. The exchange has exposed the fragility of the interim deal and sharpened tensions over Strait of Hormuz shipping.

In Short

• Kuwait said its air defences intercepted Iranian drones and missiles overnight
• Bahrain called the drone attack a flagrant threat to residents' security
• Kiku carried Qatari crude and was headed to a UAE port

The US military carried out a second round of airstrikes on Iran on Saturday on President Donald Trump's orders, after Tehran targeted Bahrain and Kuwait and after a tanker linked to Qatar was attacked at sea. The developments have sharply raised tensions and put further strain on an interim US-Iran deal meant to stop the fighting.

The attack on Kuwait early Sunday was the first since the two sides signed the deal. At the same time, a US Navy-overseen multinational maritime body said it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow both inbound and outbound traffic, setting up another point of friction with Tehran.

The US military's Central Command said it struck Iranian military "surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities" after the attack on the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku early on Saturday. The ship was carrying crude oil for Qatar's state-run energy company. According to ship tracking websites, the Kiku had left a Qatari oil field in the middle of the Persian Gulf earlier in the week and was headed to a port in the United Arab Emirates on the Gulf of Oman, just beyond the Strait of Hormuz. It appeared to be using a route near Oman's coast that has emerged as an alternative to the Iran-approved route through Iranian waters.

In a social media post, Trump said the US had "struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!" He warned that there could come a point when the US would no longer be able to be reasonable "and will be forced to militarily complete the job". "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" he wrote on Truth Social. The latest exchange followed a similar episode days earlier, when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off Oman on Thursday and the US responded with strikes.

The US military said "Iran had a chance to honor the ceasefire agreement" but "elected not to" when its forces attacked the Kiku. Iran state TV reported explosions in an area just north of the Strait of Hormuz. After the US strikes early Sunday, Kuwait's military said its air defences intercepted incoming Iranian drones and missiles, but gave no immediate details on damage. Kuwait hosts a major US Army base.

Earlier on Saturday, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said a "number of Iranian drones" had targeted the country and described the attack as "a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents". There were no immediate reports of damage. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, said it had targeted several locations "of the US terrorist army in the region", without naming them. Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, had just hosted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers that ended with a call for an end to Iran's attacks and for the strait to be fully open.

Overnight into Saturday, Central Command said it had struck Iranian missile and drone sites and coastal radar positions. US Vice President JD Vance, who has led the negotiations with Iran, said on social media on Friday night that Iran should "pick up the phone" if there were disagreements over the ceasefire, "but violence will be met with violence". The two sides are negotiating the terms of the deal, including the movement of ships through the strait, which is vital to global oil and natural gas supplies, as well as the future of Iran's nuclear programme and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, they have 60 days to settle the details, with ending the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group a key part of the agreement.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a tanker was attacked in the strait on Saturday, adding that the crew was safe and there was no environmental damage. No one immediately claimed the strike, though suspicion fell on Iran. Soon after, the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the US Navy, said the route near Oman's shore was being expanded to allow traffic in both directions. Iran has said ships must follow its orders and warned that it would begin charging transit fees through the strait, even as more vessels have been trying to leave the Gulf in recent days. Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament's national security commission, wrote on Friday: "the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules." The US and Gulf Arab states have rejected Iran's position, saying the strait is an international waterway, though it lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. The Joint Maritime Information Center said the threat to ships was "substantial" and warned mariners about mines as naval clearance operations continued. The International Maritime Organization said on Friday it had halted a new evacuation effort for ships and would not restart it until there were guarantees that vessels would not be attacked. It said about 115 ships had managed to move out of the strait in recent days.

The latest strikes, the attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, and the growing tension over shipping routes show how fragile the interim US-Iran deal remains, even as both sides continue talks on the ceasefire, maritime access and wider security issues.

With PTI Inputs

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