Trump threatens Iran will 'cease to exist' as US strikes 10 targets, Iran retaliates on Kuwait and Bahrain
A fragile US-Iran ceasefire is on the brink after Iran struck a tanker and Washington responded with overnight strikes on ten military targets. Iran then launched missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain, and Donald Trump warned the Islamic Republic could be ‘forced to complete militarily’ its destruction.
Ceasefire collapse
On 17 June, the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire, halting a conflict that began with American and Israeli bombings on 28 February. That truce started unravelling when an Iranian offensive targeted the merchant vessel Ever Lovely, prompting US strikes on Friday 26 June. According to Centcom, Iran was offered the chance to respect the agreement but instead launched a drone against the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku on 27 June, carrying over two million barrels of crude.
US planes have just struck Iranian missile and drone depots, as well as coastal radar posts, for violating the ceasefire agreement... ONCE AGAIN!
US retaliation
In response, US Navy and Air Force fighters struck ten Iranian military targets overnight on 27–28 June in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon listed destroyed infrastructure: military surveillance systems, communication networks, air-defence positions, drone depots and mine-laying capabilities. Commercial shipping through the vital oil corridor continued, Centcom said, with forces remaining “vigilant, lethal and ready to act.”
- US and Iran agree to a ceasefire
- US strikes Iranian targets in response to attack on Ever Lovely
- Iran launches a drone against the Panama-flagged tanker Kiku
- US Navy and Air Force strike 10 Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards attack Kuwait and Bahrain with missiles and drones
Iran hits back
Within hours, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed strikes on US positions in the region. Kuwait’s army reported on X that air defences were repelling “hostile missiles and drones,” while in Bahrain sirens wailed and the Interior Ministry urged citizens to “stay calm and head to the nearest safe place.” The kingdom, home to a major US naval base, intercepted several drones. The British maritime agency UKMTO said a tanker was hit by an unidentified projectile; Iranian media reported explosions in the southern regions of Sirik and Qeshm.
Trump’s existential warning
President Trump, posting on Truth, warned: “It is very likely they will never learn the lesson. There could come a time when we are no longer able to use reason and will be forced to complete militarily the work we started with great success. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will cease to exist.” Vice President JD Vance, on X, argued that Iran claimed to have respected the ceasefire and suggested differences could be settled by phone, adding: “violence only generates more violence.”
