Iran has launched ballistic missiles and suicide drones at American military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, triggering air raid sirens across both Gulf states and raising fears that a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran is collapsing into full-scale conflict.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed via Iran’s IRNA and Tasnim news agencies that its Navy and Air Force targeted the US Army at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US Fifth Naval Fleet at Port Salman in Manama, Bahrain. Kuwait’s armed forces said its air defence systems were actively intercepting the incoming threats, warning residents: “The General Staff of the Army notes that if explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks.” Bahrain’s Interior Ministry activated emergency warning sirens and told citizens and residents to “remain calm, head to the nearest safe location, and follow updates through official channels.”
The attacks came hours after the United States carried out fresh military strikes against multiple targets in Iran, accusing Tehran of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command said the strikes were conducted on 27 June at the direction of the Commander in Chief, following what it described as a pattern of Iranian aggression against international shipping lanes.
The immediate trigger was an Iranian one-way attack drone that struck the Panama-flagged crude oil tanker M/T Kiku at around 4.30am Eastern Time on Saturday, while the vessel was transiting near the Strait of Hormuz carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil. CENTCOM said Iran had already been given an opportunity to honour the ceasefire following earlier US strikes launched in response to a separate Iranian attack on the commercial vessel M/V Ever Lovely, but had chosen instead to escalate. Fresh explosions were subsequently reported in the Iranian port city of Sirik, with Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB saying projectiles struck a telecommunications tower near the village of Taharoui in the region.
President Donald Trump issued his starkest warning yet following the latest exchange, posting on social media: “United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn! There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The escalation represents the most dangerous moment yet in the US-Iran conflict, with the fighting now spreading beyond Iranian territory to engulf Gulf neighbours that had previously remained on the sidelines. Bahrain hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, making it one of the most significant American military presences in the region. Kuwait, which borders both Iraq and Saudi Arabia, had not previously been directly targeted in the conflict. The unravelling of the ceasefire, which had been signed just weeks ago, threatens to draw the entire Gulf region into an open confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
