Iran fires missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain, US strikes back on Qeshm Island as Gulf ceasefire frays

Overnight exchanges

Hostilities in the Persian Gulf flared again overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, with Iran firing multiple ballistic missiles and drones toward Kuwait and Bahrain. The US military's Central Command (Centcom) said two missiles aimed at Kuwait missed or broke up in flight, while three bound for Bahrain were intercepted by American and Bahraini air defences. Air-raid sirens sounded in both Gulf states, which host major US bases.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it struck the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and an American airbase in the region with missiles and drones. Centcom denied any hits, stating that all Iranian projectiles "failed to hit their intended target."

US retaliatory strikes

In what it described as "self-defence strikes," the US military attacked an Iranian ground-control station on Qeshm Island, located in the contested Strait of Hormuz. The Revolutionary Guards said the American strikes targeted a communications tower south of the island and called them an act of "brutal and open aggression." Iranian media reported explosions near Qeshm Island.

Centcom also said it shot down three Iranian drones that had been launched "at civilian vessels lawfully transiting regional waters." The exchange followed a US attack on Monday on the same communications tower, according to Iranian accounts.

Tanker disabled off Kharg Island

Earlier on Tuesday, Centcom fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of the M/T Lexie, a Botswana-flagged tanker sailing empty toward Iran's Kharg Island. The military said the vessel "ignored repeated warnings" to change course. Since mid-April, the US has enforced a blockade preventing ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports. Centcom reported that six commercial vessels have been disabled and 122 diverted since the blockade began.

Ceasefire and diplomatic stalemate

A shaky ceasefire has been in place since early April, but the latest exchanges underscore its fragility. Iran and the United States said last week they had reached a tentative initial agreement to halt the war, yet neither side has signed off. Iranian media reported that Tehran has not communicated with Washington for several days.

President Donald Trump insisted negotiations continue. "The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today," he posted on social media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would agree to sanctions relief only if Iran gives up its nuclear activity, declaring during an exchange with Senator Cory Booker, "The war is over."

The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today.

Strait of Hormuz remains shut

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for more than three months, since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on 28 February. Iran has blocked the waterway in retaliation, while the US enforces its own blockade on Iranian-bound traffic. The closure has pushed up global energy prices, as the strait previously carried roughly a fifth of the world's oil flows.

The war is over.

Broader conflict context

The war that began in late February has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. Israel has continued strikes in Lebanon. Trump has repeatedly said stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is his top priority; Iran denies it is developing a bomb and says its atomic programme is peaceful. Tehran seeks access to billions in oil revenues, waivers on crude exports, a lifting of the US port blockade, and continued leverage over the strait.