Washington DC [US], June 29: Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated further after the US military said it carried out additional strikes against Iran, and Tehran said it hit US targets in Kuwait and Bahrain in response.
The US military said it had carried out another retaliatory strike against Iran overnight. Several targets were struck, including air defence positions, drone storage facilities, and surveillance infrastructure, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. It said the strikes were in response to an Iranian attack on a cargo ship.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it responded swiftly, attacking targets in the US-allied Gulf states of Kuwait and Bahrain. In a statement carried by its Sepah News Telegram channel, the IRGC said its navy and air force had jointly launched missile and drone strikes in the early hours of Sunday, destroying eight key US military infrastructure targets in the two countries.
According to the IRGC, the targets were at the US Air Force's Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Mina Salman, Bahrain. The claims could not initially be independently verified. There was no immediate response from the United States.
Kuwait's military said overnight on X that its air defences were intercepting hostile missiles and drones. Iranian broadcaster Press TV also reported explosions in Bahrain. Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on X that warning sirens had been activated and urged residents to move to safe locations.
The reciprocal strikes threatened to further escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Second US attack on Iran since framework agreement
It was the second US attack on Iran since the signing of a framework agreement between the two countries earlier this month.
On Friday, the United States said it had carried out airstrikes on Iranian missile and drone storage facilities as well as coastal radar sites in response to a drone attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday that Washington blamed on Tehran.
"It's a larger strike than last night," a senior US official told Fox News, referring to the latest strike. According to CENTCOM, the United States attacked 10 Iranian military targets in and along the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported early on Sunday that several explosions had been heard in a village near the city of Sirik. It was later said that projectiles had struck a communications tower.
IRIB said four projectiles had hit the outskirts of the Iranian port city of Bandar Lengeh in Hormozgan province. It also reported impacts on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said that a tanker had been hit by an unidentified projectile, although the exact circumstances initially remained unclear. According to CENTCOM, the vessel was the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku.
Trump threatens Iran
US President Donald Trump accused Iran of once again violating the ceasefire in a post on Truth Social, saying the latest US attack was retaliation.
"It is very possible that they will never learn!" Trump wrote.
"There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started," the US president wrote, adding: "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" The IRGC said the attacks in Kuwait and Bahrain were in response to what it described as the latest US aggression. It accused Washington of violating the framework agreement with Tehran aimed at ending the conflict, as well as the current ceasefire.
Source: Qatar Tribune
