US strikes Iran after Tehran attacks ships in; Iran retaliates against Bahrain, Kuwait
The US military launched strikes against Iran early Wednesday after accusing Tehran of attacking three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as part of an American campaign that also revoked the Islamic Republic’s ability to openly sell crude oil on the global market. Iran responded with strikes targeting Bahrain and Kuwait.
The exchange of attacks heightened fears that a fragile interim agreement to halt the war could collapse, potentially pushing the Middle East towards a broader conflict. However, the latest escalation followed a pattern of similar confrontations during the shaky ceasefire, and neither side immediately indicated it would withdraw from negotiations.
The strikes on shipping and the subsequent military responses came during the days-long funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on 28 February in the opening stages of the war at the age of 86. The funeral, scheduled to conclude on Thursday, had been expected to serve as a period of reduced tensions, although mourners have repeatedly called for the deaths of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Negotiations on a final agreement had been expected to begin after Khamenei’s burial, focusing on the most difficult issues, including the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and restrictions on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. The latest attacks, however, cast uncertainty over those talks.
"The era of bullying and extortion is over," Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. "It leads nowhere. We don’t fold."
Overnight US strikes target Iran
The US military’s Central Command said American forces carried out the strikes "to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway".
It said US forces struck Iranian targets, including air defence systems, radar facilities and more than 60 small boats operated by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The boats have been used in previous incidents involving harassment of vessels in the strategic waterway.
The US military said it remained "postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable" if the agreement was violated, while adding that the latest round of strikes had concluded.
Iran acknowledged the strikes but did not provide details of any casualties. Iranian state media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik. It later reported an attack on Bandar Mahshahr that killed one Revolutionary Guard member, as well as strikes on Bushehr.
On Wednesday morning, Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and Kuwait, which hosts US Army forces, activated missile warning systems. The Revolutionary Guard issued a statement claiming responsibility for targeting US military installations in both countries.
"The child-killing and terrorist US army ... openly violated the ceasefire and violated the Islamabad understanding by launching an air strike on a number of coastal bases and civilian stations on the coasts of Hormozgan and Mahshahr provinces," the statement said, without addressing the attacks on ships.
Bahrain activated its alert sirens for a second and third time later on Wednesday morning.
A similar series of Iranian attacks on shipping and subsequent US retaliatory strikes occurred late last month, also resulting in Iranian strikes targeting Bahrain and Kuwait. Wednesday’s escalation came as Trump was in Turkey attending a summit of the NATO military alliance.
Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomat in the United Arab Emirates, described Iran’s attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait as "a clear indicator that Tehran remains incapable of committing to the requirements of de-escalation and turning the page on war".
"The Gulf Arab states cannot remain a target for Iran’s wavering between the logic of escalation and the path of rationality, stability and peace," he wrote.
US revokes licence for Iranian oil sales
The US also revoked a licence that had allowed Iran to sell oil as part of the interim agreement. The arrangement had enabled Tehran to conduct oil sales openly in US dollars for the first time in years.
Iran has long been accused of selling sanctioned crude oil to China at below-market prices.
The decision followed attacks on shipping. One tanker travelling off Oman’s coast was hit and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker was targeted after ignoring warnings, although it did not directly claim responsibility for the attack.
The other two ships sustained damage but reported no injuries and continued their journeys through the Strait of Hormuz, the UK agency said.
Iran has maintained restrictions over the strait since the war began, disrupting global energy markets. The vessels targeted on Tuesday appeared to have been using a route close to Oman’s coast rather than the route approved by Tehran.
Iran has repeatedly said that only its designated route through the strait is safe and has been accused of targeting ships using alternative routes.
Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said the Qatari tanker Al Rekayyat was targeted in an "unacceptable attack" on international navigation and global energy security. He said Qatar, which has acted as a key mediator alongside Pakistan in the negotiations, held Iran "fully legally responsible".
Under the interim agreement, Iran and the US had agreed to allow ships to pass through the strait without paying transit charges for 60 days. Tehran, however, insisted it should control vessel routes and later impose fees for passage — a move that would overturn decades of maritime practice in the waterway.
The US and several Gulf Arab states have rejected any possibility of Iran charging fees for passage through the strait.
Khamenei funeral ceremonies held in Iraq
Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei were held on Wednesday in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf, with further prayers scheduled at the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala.
Khamenei’s son and Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has yet to appear at the ceremonies, which began on Saturday in Tehran. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the air strike that killed his father.
Khamenei’s body will later be returned to Iran, where he is scheduled to be buried on Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.