Middle East overnight: Tehran targets Bahrain and Kuwait after fresh US strikes

The US said the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks a day earlier on three commercial vessels that were ⁠transiting the strait of Hormuz. Picture: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP

Weeks after signing an interim MoU to end the war, the United States and Iran have struggled to maintain their fragile truce, with the fight over the control of the strait of Hormuz flaring again today.

The US on Wednesday launched fresh strikes against Iran in retaliation for what it said was Iranian strikes on three commercial vessels a day earlier.

Iran responded by targeting dozens of US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain. The country has sought to leverage its control of the strait, effectively allowing it to force a stalemate with the world’s most powerful military.

If you are just getting up to speed, here is the latest.

The ⁠US military launched a series of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, ⁠US Central ⁠Command confirmed. A US official said those strikes targeted Iranian air defense systems, port facilities, coastal surveillance systems, ground-to-air missiles as well as launch sites for anti-ship cruise missiles and drones. This marks ⁠the first known US military strikes ​against ​Iran since late last ​month, when there were several ​days ‌of strikes and ​counterstrikes ​between the two.

The US said the strikes were in response to Iranian attacks a day earlier on three commercial vessels that were ⁠transiting the strait of Hormuz. “Iran’s demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of ‌the ceasefire,” a US military statement said.

Prior to the attacks, the US also revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil with the US Treasury cancelling a license that had allowed Iran to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products through 21 August. Some have described the move as a potentially major blow to the agreement.

Iran responded by targeting dozens of US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, with sirens sounded in both countries. “In an initial response to this aggression, the IRGC Navy and Aerospace Force carried out a joint missile and drone operation, striking 85 key US military facilities” in the two countries, while also shooting down an MQ-9 drone, the statement said.

Iran’s foreign ministry also lashed out against the US, vowing to “take whatever measures it deems necessary to safeguard its national interests and security”. The ministry accused the US of “treacherous action” and “major violations” of the MoU. “The era of bullying and extortion is over,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. “It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.” Referring to the US strikes, Iranian media said six projectiles hit the area of Taheroui pier in Sirik in southern Iran. No civilian deaths were reported, but several people were ⁠injured by shrapnel from an “enemy projectile” that hit a commercial pier in Sirik, according to an Iranian state TV reporter. The reports said strikes also hit fishing piers in Sirik and in Bandar Abbas, where several fishing boats were set ablaze.

The benchmark US oil contract increased more than 2.5% when markets opened Wednesday, as Middle East tensions rose with new US attacks on Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude, one of the two major global benchmarks, was up 2.63% at $72.29 per barrel. It rose 2.76% on Tuesday.

The ⁠new attacks by ⁠the US ⁠on Iran ​were “absolutely necessary”, Nato ⁠secretary general Mark Rutte said on ⁠Wednesday. 

"When you ​have ‌a ‌ceasefire and Iran ‌is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is ‌totally crucial that the ​U.S. forcefully react,” Rutte told reporters before ⁠a summit ​of Nato leaders ​in Ankara.

 - Guardian