Iran fires missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles and drones early Sunday at the US Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait and the US Fifth Fleet’s base at Port Salman in Bahrain, according to Al Jazeera . The barrage was Tehran’s response to two consecutive nights of US strikes on targets at Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh and Qeshm Island, which Washington said followed an Iranian drone attack on the Kiku oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.
By striking Kuwait, Iran extended the fighting to a Gulf state that had not previously been hit, and by targeting the Fifth Fleet’s headquarters it again put core US basing in the region at risk. Gulf and Arab governments condemned the attacks: the UAE called them “a blatant violation” of Kuwaiti and Bahraini sovereignty, Jordan termed them “a dangerous escalation,” and Qatar urged restraint to “spare the region the consequences of unjustified attacks.”
The exchange continues to unwind the June 17 memorandum that was meant to end the war, whose central bargain — safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in return for lifting the US naval blockade — is the very thing now collapsing. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait “remains under the total oversight and management of Iran,” while President Trump warned that “there may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable.” With each retaliatory round pulling in additional US bases and host countries, the path back to the agreement is narrowing.