US strikes widen to Tehran as Iran hits Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 16, 2026 11:38 IST

The United States stepped up its strikes on Iran early on Thursday, hitting targets further north, including areas around Tehran, as the latest round of fighting pushed the region closer to a wider war. Iran responded before dawn with missile and drone attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, while renewed threats around the Strait of Hormuz added to fears over energy supplies and prices.

The fresh exchanges have further damaged the interim deal meant to end the Iran war. Iranian officials said US strikes have killed more than 35 people and injured over 300 others, while attacks have now reached areas around the Iranian capital for the first time in this phase of the conflict.

When the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. The move sent the prices of oil, fertiliser and many other goods sharply higher and gave Iran leverage in talks. Washington has struggled to reopen the waterway, and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reimposed a naval blockade.

Iran's parliament speaker and lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran was ready for a broader military confrontation if the US did not honour the interim deal. Iran's paramilitary 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." Trump, however, said Iran still wanted an agreement. "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 the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.

Trump also said on social media that Tehran had made a goodwill gesture 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 nonprofit and had been charged with espionage. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the release, and her case had not been publicly known.

Iranian state media said the US strikes early on Thursday hit areas around Tehran and also targeted Semnan province, which is home to Iran's ballistic missile production and space programme. On Wednesday, the US resumed daylight strikes, underlining the faster pace of attacks. US Central Command said an attack on Greater Tunb Island, a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz, targeted Iranian defence and missile sites.

The US military also said it opened fire on the Curacao-flagged oil tanker Belma as it sailed towards Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. It said that after the ship "ignored multiple warnings", a US aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a missile into its smokestack. Separately, Iranian state television said another US strike on Wednesday hit a barracks of Iran's 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.

Iran's retaliation on Thursday included missile and drone attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, according to authorities in those countries, which host US forces. There was no immediate confirmation of damage or casualties. In Iraq, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned an overnight drone attack on Irbil in the country's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region. Authorities said the drone had been intercepted. The attack came during al-Zaidi's visit to the US, where he said Iraq would work to disarm non-state armed groups, including those backed by Iran.

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the conflict. During the interim deal, some ships had begun using a route near Oman overseen by the US military and outside Tehran's control. But in recent days, Iran attacked ships using that route, leading to more exchanges. The US has threatened to reopen the strait by force, though experts say that would require a much larger naval deployment and possibly tens of thousands of ground troops. For now, the blockade remains another tool of pressure, even as Brent crude rose above USD 85 a barrel on Thursday, more than 15 per cent higher than before the war, though still below the nearly USD 120 seen at the height of the conflict.

With both sides stepping up military action, the interim deal has come under severe strain, the Strait of Hormuz remains contested, and the latest attacks have widened the conflict's impact across the region.

With PTI Inputs

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