The United States and Iran exchanged strikes on Wednesday and Thursday, placing a fragile April ceasefire under its most serious strain yet and drawing several Gulf states directly into the latest round of escalation.
The renewed hostilities followed the downing of an American helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, after which Washington launched strikes on Iranian military infrastructure.
US officials said the attacks were aimed at Iranian surveillance, communications and air defence systems that posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping in regional waters.
US Central Command said the latest wave of strikes began at 5:15pm Washington time on Wednesday, early Thursday in Iran, and had been “completed”. It said Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy assets fired precision munitions at targets across Iran.
Iranian media reported explosions in several areas, including Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Minab, near the Strait of Hormuz. Reports also cited strikes in Karaj, Nazarabad and Pishva, near Tehran. Iranian media said at least three people were wounded in Tehran province.
The attacks came after US President Donald Trump accused Tehran of prolonging negotiations to end the three-month war. Speaking on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had been “playing us for suckers” and would “have to pay the price”.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth suggested the military pressure could continue, saying that if Trump required it, Washington would “negotiate with bombs”.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned the US strikes on Thursday, saying they rendered the nearly two-month ceasefire “practically meaningless”. It said Washington bore responsibility for what it called the “extremely serious consequences” of the attacks.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it retaliated by striking US-linked military targets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.
Iranian state media said the attacks included drones and ballistic missiles targeting the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, airbases in Kuwait and the al-Azraq airbase in Jordan.
Bahrain issued an air raid alert on Wednesday after Iranian reports said the US base there had been targeted. The interior ministry urged residents to remain calm and move to safe places.
In Kuwait, authorities temporarily closed the country’s airspace early on Thursday and diverted flights, citing risks to civil aviation after what they described as Iranian attacks. The military said its air defences were engaging “hostile aerial targets”. Kuwait later announced that commercial air traffic had returned to normal.
Jordan’s military said on Thursday that its air defence systems and air force intercepted 20 missiles launched from Iran towards the Azraq area in Zarqa governorate, around 80km east of Amman. It said fragments fell but caused no casualties or material damage.
The IRGC, however, claimed that 12 ballistic missiles had hit the al-Azraq airbase and its control centre, saying the attack destroyed facilities and aircraft. The claims could not be independently verified.
The escalation also saw US strikes on shipping in the Gulf of Oman, one of the world’s most important energy routes.
An Iranian cargo barge was hit by a US projectile in the Gulf of Oman early on Thursday, the Iranian governor of Sirik county said, according to Mehr news agency. It was one of several strikes on Indian-crewed vessels by US forces this week.
The 150-tonne cargo barge, owned by locals from Sirik and carrying essential goods from the Omani port of Khasab, was hit about five nautical miles off Khasab, the Iranian official said. All five crew members were rescued by passing vessels and taken to Oman, he added.
US forces have disabled three tankers in the vital waterway this week, leading to the death of three seafarers over enforcement of Iranian ports blockade.
Earlier, two Indian seafarers were confirmed killed and one missing after a US attack on the Palau-flagged Settebello oil tanker off the coast of Oman on Tuesday night, according to Indian news outlet The Hindu.
Iranian media reported on Thursday that the Iranian navy had hit two ships trying to transit the strait. US Central Command denied that shipping had stopped, saying commercial vessels were still moving in and out of the waterway.
