Iran hits Bahrain and Kuwait after US restores naval blockade

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 16, 2026 07:06 IST

Iran launched attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait early on Thursday after the United States reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and stepped up its airstrikes, saying it was retaliating for Tehran's attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties from the Iranian strikes.

The fresh exchange of fire has further weakened an interim deal meant to pause the fighting and opened the possibility of a wider regional war. Iranian officials said American strikes hit an army barracks, killing at least seven troops, while the country's health ministry said more than 35 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded in recent days.

The US first imposed the blockade in April and lifted it last month after an interim agreement set a 60-day period for negotiations on issues including Iran's nuclear programme. Those talks have since stalled as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz deepened. About 24 hours after the blockade was reimposed, the US military opened fire and disabled a merchant vessel.

The US military's Central Command said it carried out overnight strikes on dozens of targets on Wednesday, resumed attacks in daylight, and launched another wave late in the day. It said a Curacao-flagged oil tanker, Belma, was sailing towards Kharg Island and, after the ship "ignored multiple warnings", a US aircraft disabled it by firing Hellfire missiles into its smokestack. The US military also said it had to speak with two other commercial vessels, but they complied with instructions to turn away.

Among the US targets was Greater Tunb Island, which Central Command described as a strike on Iranian defence and missile sites at a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state television said another strike hit a barracks of the 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade in Sistan and Baluchestan province. It said at least 13 missiles were fired, seven people were killed, including conscripts and career soldiers, and a number of troops were wounded.

Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran's health ministry, said more than 35 people have been killed and more than 300 wounded by recent US airstrikes, without giving a breakdown between civilians and combatants. State television said the army would make "a decisive response".

US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads Central Command, said Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighbouring Gulf Arab countries. Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait on Wednesday as they faced incoming Iranian fire. In a post on X, Bahrain's interior ministry urged people to "head to the nearest safe place". Jordan said it shot down three incoming Iranian missiles. Iran claimed attacks on all three countries, which host US forces.

Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said Iran was ready for a broader military confrontation if the US did not honour the interim deal. In a statement published online, he said the agreement included "Iranian arrangements" over the Strait of Hormuz and added, "Now that we have entered the implementation phase, the United States, having exhausted its legal and diplomatic options, is trying to undermine those Iranian arrangements through force." His remarks appeared aimed at critics inside Iran who oppose negotiations with Washington, as he argued that talks should not be seen as compromise or surrender but as part of a wider strategy of resistance.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard also threatened to stop all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade, saying, "The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one." Soon after the US launched its third wave of strikes in 24 hours, President Donald Trump said Iran was ready to agree to peace, though he gave no details. "They don't like what we're doing, and they do want to settle. We'll find out whether or not we settle with them, or we just finish it off," he said on Wednesday at a defence summit at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.

Later on Wednesday, Trump said on social media that Tehran had made a "gesture of Goodwill" by releasing an American citizen detained in Iran since 2024. He gave no further details. Human rights lawyer Jared Genser later identified the detainee as his client Dena Karari, a US-Iranian citizen who runs a non-profit and had been charged with espionage.

The latest attacks have left the interim truce in tatters, with both sides stepping up military action around the Strait of Hormuz and beyond. With US strikes widening, Iranian retaliation spreading to Gulf states, and threats to energy exports growing louder, the region is again facing the risk of a full-scale war.

With PTI Inputs

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