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Iran Strikes U.S. Military Targets Across Gulf as Ceasefire Collapses
Iran's armed forces have attacked U.S. military infrastructure across several Gulf states, marking a dramatic escalation of hostilities after a fragile three-week-old ceasefire collapsed. The retaliatory strikes on Thursday followed U.S. attacks on Iranian provinces and coincided with the burial of Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Broadening Hostilities
Iranian state media reported that its army launched a wave of attacks targeting U.S. military assets in the region. The specific targets named were:
- U.S. Patriot missile systems in Kuwait
- An early-warning site in Qatar
- A U.S. Army fuel depot in Bahrain
- Jordan’s Azraq military base, which is used by U.S. forces
Kuwait's armed forces said they engaged multiple threats, including a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles, and 10 drones, with one person injured by falling shrapnel. Jordan's state news agency reported that it intercepted eight missiles, with no damage or injuries. The escalation follows U.S. Central Command's statement that it had struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets in retaliation for what it called Iranian attacks on commercial shipping vessels earlier in the week.
Strait of Hormuz in Focus
AdThe renewed conflict places renewed pressure on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy markets that handled about a fifth of the world's oil supply before the war. Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy stated that any further U.S. intervention in the waterway would draw a "crushing response," adding that vessel traffic under its supervision had recovered to about 50% of pre-war levels.
Conversely, the U.S. military maintained that Iran does not control the waterway and said it had facilitated the safe transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil since early May. Oil prices, a key barometer of regional stability, fell on Thursday after initially spiking on concerns that the fighting would severely disrupt global supplies.
Political and Diplomatic Fallout
The attacks occurred as Iran buried Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on February 28 that initiated the months-long conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump, who declared the truce "over" earlier this week, wrote on his Truth Social platform that if Iran's attacks on shipping happen again, "it will get much worse!"
According to a U.S. official, Washington remains committed to finding a resolution, and "technical talks continue." However, the escalating conflict and associated high gas prices create political challenges for the president ahead of midterm elections. Regional powers, including Qatar, Turkey, and Oman, have made diplomatic calls for de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.