Iran strikes US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain after American attacks on its coastal positions, threatening to end the ceasefire

The Sunday-morning retaliation

Air raid sirens sounded across Kuwait and Bahrain early Sunday as Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles and drones at eight US military installations, including the joint US-Kuwaiti Ali al Salem airbase and the US Navy's Fifth Fleet command in Manama. Kuwait's armed forces said their air defences intercepted an unspecified number of missiles, while Bahrain's interior minister urged residents to "maintain calm and head to the nearest safe place." A residential building near Manama International Airport was damaged, but local authorities and a US official speaking to Reuters confirmed no deaths among either civilians or American personnel.

Any new aggression, whatever the pretext, will receive a crushing response.

The American strikes that ignited the exchange

Late Saturday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that fighter aircraft had hit 10 Iranian military targets in and near the Strait of Hormuz, destroying surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air-defence emplacements, drone-storage facilities and naval mine-laying capabilities. The operation was ordered in response to an Iranian one-way attack drone striking the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku earlier that day. The Kiku was carrying more than two million barrels of crude from a Qatari oil field to an Emirati port on the Gulf of Oman, using a route near the Omani coast that Tehran considers unauthorised.

Iran had the opportunity to respect the ceasefire agreement, but chose not to when its forces launched a one-way attack drone.

Iranian state television IRIB reported explosions in Taherui (Sirik region) and Masan (Qeshm island), attributing them to the impact of projectiles on a communications tower.

A truce that never stabilised

The exchange follows a pattern that began just days earlier. On Thursday, an Iranian drone hit the Singapore-flagged merchant vessel M/V Ever Lovely off Oman, drawing a retaliatory US strike on Friday. A provisional ceasefire memorandum had been signed on 17 June, but Iran insists that the agreement grants it sole authority over vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz until a final settlement is negotiated. Washington and Gulf Arab states reject that interpretation, and a multinational maritime body supervised by the US Navy further inflamed tensions on Saturday by announcing it would expand an alternative route near Oman to handle both inbound and outbound traffic.

Threats to walk away from the table

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the US bombings breach the memorandum of understanding and warned that continued American actions would lead to a "total paralysis" of the peace negotiations. US President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the US had "attacked Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar sites for violating the ceasefire agreement, AGAIN!"

There could come a point when the United States can no longer be reasonable and will be forced to complete the job militarily. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will cease to exist!

Kuwait's foreign ministry denounced the Iranian strike as undermining international de‑escalation efforts and reserved the right to take all necessary measures. Bahrain's foreign ministry condemned the attack and called for an emergency meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Chokepoint under pressure

Before the conflict, roughly one‑fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The Kiku's cargo alone contained over two million barrels, and vessel-tracking sites confirm it was attempting the Oman‑coast route that Tehran had previously declared off‑limits. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre raised its threat level to "substantial" after a projectile hit a tanker on Saturday, advising all shipping to exercise extreme caution.