Iran Strikes US Bases in Bahrain and Kuwait as US Launches Fresh Strikes on Iran

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched drone and missile attacks early on Saturday against United States military facilities in Bahrain, home to the Navy's Fifth Fleet, and the Ali al-Salem area of Kuwait, according to PBS. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry confirmed and condemned the attack, calling it a criminal act of aggression and a violation of its sovereignty. These are the most direct strikes on US installations since Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding intended to end their war.

The attacks followed strikes on Friday by US Central Command against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar locations, Al Jazeera reported. Those strikes were a response to an IRGC drone attack on Thursday that damaged the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely near the coast of Oman as it exited the Strait of Hormuz, an attack that caused no casualties, according to The Hill. The vessel's bridge and starboard side sustained damage.

The IRGC claimed it destroyed eight US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, an assertion Washington has not corroborated. The Tribune reported the IRGC's claim, while US forces said they intercepted missiles aimed at Bahrain and downed multiple drones over Kuwait. Tehran accuses Washington of breaching the agreement, and Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates condemned Iran's strikes as a threat to regional stability. Each side attributes the escalation to the other, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The broader sequence drew in Gulf shipping over several days. United States forces fired on and disabled two Iranian oil tankers on Friday, PBS reported, and a tanker was hit by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning, as reported by IRNA. Iran again declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, according to The Hindu's live coverage and Israel's Ynet.

The confrontation reaches markets through the same channel. Brent crude had fallen to about $72 a barrel after transits through Hormuz accelerated and Gulf producers raised output, restoring exports toward three-quarters of pre-conflict levels. Direct attacks on US bases in third countries reintroduce the supply risk that the recent price decline had assumed was receding.